SONA: For most Filipinos, it's the economy, stupid

BEFORE the headline topic, a rejoinder on the change in policy direction by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The day after he declared the need for a Department of Disaster Resilience after the Abra earthquake, he reversed course.

Echoing his elder sister, Sen. Imee Marcos, the President argued that a new Cabinet department would consume too much resources. A disaster body under the Office of the President should suffice, in the siblings' view.