Eliseo Ruel Rioja

At midterm, Marcos’ security and foreign relation targets are showing headway

In President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.s’ first three SONAs from 2022 to 2024, ABS-CBN Fact Check tracked a total of 10 promises or issues his administration has vowed to address in the areas of security and foreign policy. Four have been completed and four are in progress.

Article (news)

ABS-CBN Research and Verification Unit

<div>[[PHOTO ALBUM]]</div><p>By the time President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. takes the stage on July 28 to deliver his fourth State of the Nation Address, he is already halfway through his term. </p><p>In Marcos’ first three SONAs from 2022 to 2024, ABS-CBN Fact Check tracked a total of 10 promises or issues his administration has vowed to address in the areas of security and foreign policy </p><p>Of the president’s 10 SONA promises in these areas, only four have been completed, while four are in progress. Two are yet to be assessed because of a lack of available data. </p><div><br/></div><div><strong>Territorial disputes, trade</strong></div><p>Marcos’ SONA promises on foreign policy appear well-positioned, as most of them were completed. </p><p>He pledged to continuously fight for the country’s territorial claims, particularly in the West Philippine Sea, and forge more deals for trade and labor. Of his four promises, three were fulfilled, while one cannot be rated due to a lack of available data. </p><p>On the longstanding tension over the contested area of the West Philippine Sea, Marcos stood by his firm stance and criticized China for its offensive actions against Filipino fisherfolk. He also signed two laws that seek to reinforce the country&#x27;s territorial jurisdiction in November 2024 and advocated for a legally binding code of conduct in the contested area in May 2025. </p><p>Meanwhile, just as he stated, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) entered into force in June 2023, increasing the country’s export gains from products delivered to RCEP parties from USD2.95 billion in May 2024 to USD3.1 billion in May 2025 </p><p>On July 23, 2025, Marcos agreed to another trade deal with the United States that lowered the tariff rate imposed on Philippine products by one percentage point (from 20% to 19%) in exchange for zero tax on US products that will enter the country. There is no available data yet on the actual benefits or drawbacks of the agreement. </p><p>The Philippines also signed 20 new bilateral labor agreements with 14 countries from 2022 to June 2025, three of which pertain to jobs in the healthcare industry. </p><div><br/></div><div><strong>Drug war continues</strong></div><p>The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has conducted more than 120,000 anti-drug operations since 2022, based on its data. In these operations, the agency apprehended almost 172,000 personalities and seized over 10 tons of drugs, amounting to P76.39 billion. </p><p>As Marcos promised, 237 more Balay Silangan Reformation Centers were established as rehabilitation and reformation centers for drug offenders. And as an achievement, 2,774 of their 9,791 graduates were employed as of June 2025, based on PDEA data. </p><p>Despite Marcos’s rhetoric of winding down and continuing a ‘bloodless’ drug war, the Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2024 observed that while killings significantly dropped under the current administration, there were more drug-related deaths in the first year of Marcos than in Duterte’s final year, citing a monitoring by the UP Third World Studies Center. </p><p>Based on this monitoring, the Dahas Project recorded 1,014 drug-related killings from July 1, 2022 to July 23, 2025, all under Marcos’ term. </p><div><br/></div><div><strong>POGOs and crime</strong></div><p>A total of 60 licenses of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) were either canceled or suspended as of December 15, 2024, based on data from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) </p><p>Despite this, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) apprehended 1,191 individuals who were involved in illegal POGOs in its operations this year. They comprise 750 foreign nationals and 441 Filipinos. </p><p>Since 2023, PAOCC has apprehended 5,949 individuals. Of these, 38 foreign fugitives were caught. Almost 2,400 individuals were deported back to their countries, with more than half of them being Chinese nationals. </p><p>Yet streets are still far from safe, with the crime rate showing no significant decline, contrary to Marcos’ claims. Data from the Philippine National Police revealed that crime cases decreased from 2022 to 2023 but increased in 2024. </p><p>While the percentage of resolved cases has gradually increased over these years, there is no available data showing the quality or outcomes of these cases. </p><div><br/></div><div><strong>Cybercrime</strong></div><p>Based on cybercrime data, the enactment of the SIM Registration Act on October 10, 2022 failed to curb mobile text scams. From 159 in 2021, harassment cases via mobile texts more than doubled to 357 in 2022 and have not fallen below 300 in the years that followed. </p><p>Meanwhile, reported cases of financial cybercrime decreased from 2,855 in 2023 to 2,067 in 2024. </p><p>The Anti-Financial Accounts Scamming Act was only enacted on July 20, 2024, prompting the need for more data to measure the law&#x27;s impact.</p>

<p>In President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.s’ first three SONAs from 2022 to 2024, ABS-CBN Fact Check tracked a total of 10 promises or issues his administration has vowed to address in the areas of security and foreign policy. Four have been completed and four are in progress.</p>

At midterm, Marcos’ security and foreign relation targets are showing headway

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At midterm, Marcos’ security and foreign relation targets are showing headway

Eliseo Ruel Rioja,

ABS-CBN Research and Verification Unit,

Christopher Bauso

Published Jul 28, 2025 12:44 AM PHT

Read More:

State of the Nation Address

SONA

SONA promises

SONA tracker

Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

PBBM

security

West Philippine Sea

POGO

crime

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