CEBU CITY, Cebu, July 16 (PIA) -- As the sixth and final State of the Nation Address (SONA) of Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte draws near on July 26, 2021, the Office of the Cabinet Secretariat and Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) held the regional Pre-SONA "Pamana ng Pagbabago: The 2021 Pre-SONA Forums" on July 16, 2021 in Mandaue City, Cebu.

With the theme "Pamanang Pagkakaisa," the third forum is organized to show the Filipino people of the government's initiatives on engaging the public in national processes and in realizing Duterte's promise of postive change or pagbabago.

The Participatory Governance Cluster (PGC) led by Department of Budget and Management (DMB) Sec. Wendel Avisado and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Sec. Eduardo Año, along with cluster member agencies, reported to the Filipino people the major accomplishments of their cluster that highlight inclusivity, transparency, and responsiveness in managing government programs and projects.

PCOO Sec. Martin Andanar, who welcomed the participants of the Pre-SONA, said the government remains steadfast despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"For the past years, we weaved and shared with you the story of progress through the Cabinet clusters. We have seen how the promise of change reached and affected the lives of every Filipino," Andanar said. 

"The past two years have challenged us even more due to threat the COVID-19 pandemic but we remain steadfast as we bring you this year's Pre-SONA series. We are a government that is strong and resilient. A government that continues to work for the people," he added.

Also present during the Pre-SONA forum is Cabinet Sec. Karlo Nograles who, for his part, said that for this year, in preparation for the Pre-SONA fora and the final SONA of the President, "we successfully innovated the 'Kasama sa Pamana Regional Pre-SONA Series' which allowed us to visit 12 regions all over the country." 

Nograles said in this year's Pre-SONA, they aim to fulfill these major objectives:

• To provide the data, figures, and details that will contribute to a better understanding of the messages that the President will deliver in his SONA;
• To provide an extensive report on the administration's accomplishments over the past five years consistent with the national development goals, the plans for the remainder of his term, and the progress of the COVID-19 pandemic containment and mitigation initiatives; and
• To provide the people the opportunity to raise questions directly to the President through his representatives in the Cabinet.

Nograles said the first part of the series, the "Pamanang Kaunlaran," was conducted by the Economic Development Cluster (EDC) and Infrastructure Cluster together with the Sulong Pilipinas 2021 Partners for Progress on April 26.

He added that the second installment, the "Pamanang Malasakit" Pre-SONA forum of the Human Development Poverty Reduction Cluster, was held on July 14.

Nograles provided highlights on the two previous fora.

First, he said EDC Chair and Finance Sec. Carlos Dominguez III reported that the country saw a period of growth from 2016-2019.

"In that time span, six million Filipinos were lifted out of poverty. Our poverty incidence rate dropped to 16.7 percent in 2018 from 23.5 percent in 2015. And the unemployment rate improved to 4.5 percent in 2018 from 6.3 percent in 2015," he added.

As reported by Infrastructure Chair and Public Works and Highways Sec. Mark Villar, Nograles said the "Build Build Build" program of the administration has raised the infrastructure spending to P1.049 trillion in 2019 from P590.5 billion in 2016.

"But last year, this was brought down to P824.9 billion due to the pandemic. Our goal is to bring this back up to P1.169 trillion or 5.9 percent of Gross Domestic Product this year," he added.

He said the Infrastructure Cluster also focused on building healthcare facilities to adequately respond to the pandemic.

In the second installment, he said the Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster Chair and Social Welfare and Development Sec. Rolando Bautista presented the milestones in basic services delivery, capacity building interventions, and efforts to combat pandemic.

Nograles noted the programs to strengthen education: Alternative Learning System four out-of-school youth and adults, and training for individuals living in the poorest and far-flung barangays and other vulnerable sectors.

On improving health services, Nograles said Bautista presented updates on the implementation of several programs like the Dietary Supplementation Program for nutrionally-at-risk pregnant women and children six to 23 months, feeding programs, projects under the Inter-Agency Task Force on Zero Hunger, among others.

He said Bautista provided details of the social protection programs like the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, Social Pension Program, livelihood projects, and assistance to disaster-affected individuals and families.

Nograles also discussed the reports of efforts to directly address the effects of the pandemic which include the assistance to displaced overseas Filipino workers, disadvantaged workers, healthcare workers and frontliners, COVID-19 hospitals and facilities, and progress of the National Vaccination Program.

Moderated by Andanar, the Pre-SONA Forums are simulcasted at 9:00 a.m. on People's Television Network, Inc., Radio Television Malacañang, and streamed live on PCOO and Philippine Information Agency Facebook pages and shared among other various government pages. (Ileana D. Cortes/PIA7)