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Defense buildup and a more hawkish security posture: Such is Japan’s pivotal policy today amid escalating regional tensions under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

An unprecedented constitutional and accountability crisis has engulfed the nation. The crisis is predicated by the ongoing historic Senate impeachment trial of the Republic’s Vice President Sara Duterte. Compounding the situation, the Philippines is in a state of high polarization as the Marcos-Sara Duterte "UniTeam" alliance has completely shattered into open institutional warfare.

After installing Expanded Defense Cooperation Agreements (EDCAs) in nine different sites in the Philippines between 2014 under former President Benigno Aquino III and current President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., both the US and Philippine administrations have drawn flaks from peasant and other progressive organizations particularly in Tarlac province, Central Luzon, in reaction to a new, ambitious project called Pax Silica.

With inflation rate easing to 6.5% in July 2026, the Philippines remained scarred by a 4.8% unemployment and 11% poverty alongside 52% self-rated poverty or more than half of the population. Compare the country’s low economic growth to the high intensity of political infighting among the country’s ruling elite particularly between the Ilocos-based Marcos dynasty and Davao-based Dutertes – and one may conclude that politics is going askew. Meanwhile, the US-Israel war against

Less than two years away from the next presidential race, the Philippines is wracked by political infighting with an impeachment charge against Vice President Sara Duterte. Amid the Middle East armed conflicts, oil prices have gone over the edge arising partly from the country’s inability to produce oil let alone alternative energy. Known for his friendly ties with the US, President Marcos Jr. strengthened security alliances with the US and other countries including India

The Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. administration has continued to highlight favorable macroeconomic indicators, strengthened security partnerships, and international recognition as evidence that the country is moving toward stability and prosperity. Behind declarations of economic progress, however, are Filipino families struggling with agonizingly high prices and wages that remain far below the cost of a dignified standard of living.

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s penultimate State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered on July 27, 2026 before a joint session of Congress – with 12 of the 24-Senate members inconspicuously absent - was short on performance but long on promises even as his talk was interrupted by a string of applauses and standing ovations.

Our 1987 Constitution, born from the struggles and lessons of history, begins its chapter on accountability with a simple yet powerful declaration: “Public office is a public trust.” This is not just a line of legal poetry.

A Message on the Fifth State of the Nation Address of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., 27 July 2026 Prof. Emmanuel A. Leyco President and Chief Economist, Credit Rating and Investors Services Philippines, Inc. • Senior Fellow, Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) • ealeyco@crisp.com.ph On the fourth Monday of July, as the Constitution commands, the President will stand before a joint session of Congress at the Batasang Pambansa to deliver his fifth and p