[Be The Good] Weave your story into the state of the nation

'In Rappler, we believe a community of voices can truly give justice to the state of the nation. And so we invite you to add your voice.'

Refurbishing in Batasan, government departments compiling accomplishment reports, civil society groups protesting in the streets. The signs are unmistakable – it’s SONA season once again.

The upcoming State of the Nation Address of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will take place amid seething tensions in the West Philippine Sea, inflation burdening the poorest Filipinos, a spotlight on criminal activities brought by the revenue-generating POGO industry, and lackluster presidential approval ratings.

This third Marcos Jr. SONA will be the President’s last SONA before the 2025 midterm elections. The next time he faces the Senate and House together, will they be stocked full with allies, or will their composition be more “diverse”?

When one thinks of SONA, the image that comes to mind is a single man, on a rostrum, one voice explaining where we are as a nation.

But in Rappler, we believe a community of voices can truly give justice to the state of the nation. And so we invite you to add your voice.

Here are ways you can join our SONA activities:

• Interactive Marcos report card. Along with our partners, give Marcos a grade using emojis, for various aspects of governance – like improving the quality of education, boosting agriculture, adhering to an independent foreign policy, and more.
• Draw your dissatisfaction. If you would rather paint us a picture, contribute to our callout, “Pangako vs. Drawing,” where we ask people to visualize Marcos’ promises that have yet to be fulfilled.
• Marcos Year 2 Playlist. If music is more your thing, suggest a song that sums up what you think of the Marcos administration so far, through our playlist callout.
• Pre-SONA panel with civil society groups. We’ll be hearing straight from various sectors and community leaders on their take on the state of the nation during a pre-SONA episode of our community show, Be The Good. We’ve invited representatives from Inklusibo, IBON Foundation, and the Student Council Alliance of the Philippines to weigh in on the economy, education, basic services, and more. The episode will air three days ahead of SONA, on Friday, July 19, at 7 pm. Head to this page for announcements about the airing.
• Live fact-checking. You can also be part of our live coverage of SONA on Monday, July 22. With our partners, we’ll do live fact-checking of the President’s speech. If you’re tuning in to the speech as well, this is a handy companion that could help better contextualize or even correct some of Marcos’ claims. The live fact-checking will take place in the #FactsFirstPH channel in the Rappler Communities app. Download the app for free, go to the Community tab, and look for the chat room.

Together, let’s weave the true story of the nation, and have rich conversations about how to move it forward. – Rappler.com

Be The Good is a newsletter that comes out every other Wednesday. We deliver updates straight to your inbox on how journalism and communities can work together for impact.

To subscribe, follow the #FactsFirstPH movement or visit rappler.com/profile and click the Newsletters tab. Create a Rappler account that helps you manage your newsletter subscriptions.