MANILA, Philippines — Thousands of protesters gathered along Commonwealth Avenue on Monday to air their grievances during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA).
Progressive groups representing labor, health and other sectors assembled in Quezon City at 7 a.m. before marching to the Sona ng Sambayanan program. Militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) estimated that around 15,000 people joined the demonstration.
Among the speakers was labor leader Leody De Guzman, who criticized the proposed US-led Pax Silica Project in New Clark City, Tarlac.
“The dynastic government is just ripping us off. They brought in Pax Silica. They are seizing more than 4,000 hectares from farmers in Central Luzon,” De Guzman said in Filipino.
In his SONA, Marcos said the Pax Silica project would generate jobs and help position the Philippines as a hub for artificial intelligence.
Protesters also displayed effigies depicting US President Donald Trump as a puppeteer controlling Marcos, symbolizing what organizers described as the administration’s subservience to the United States.
Labor leader Luke Espiritu criticized the P85 minimum wage increase in Metro Manila, calling it insufficient to meet workers’ needs.
“No worker is celebrating because of the P85 wage increase in the National Capital Region. Their wages are not living wages; they are still starvation wages,” Espiritu said.
The first P60 tranche of the wage increase took effect on July 25 under the Department of Labor and Employment’s Wage Order No. 27.
Espiritu also said many workers remain under contractual employment and argued that government initiatives such as Kadiwa stores, cash assistance and the wage increase were only temporary measures.
Marcos delivered his fifth SONA at the Batasang Pambansa for one hour and 26 minutes, outlining his administration’s accomplishments and priorities for the remaining two years of his term.
The demonstrations along Commonwealth Avenue ended at about 5:20 p.m.