MANILA — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. used his annual state of the nation address on Monday to focus on domestic economic concerns and tout his administration’s achievements in a bid to reverse his waning popularity.
However, in his first major policy speech since suffering disappointing results in May’s midterm elections, he conspicuously avoided addressing high-profile issues such as the impact of new U.S. tariffs and the domestic political turbulence that has defined the past year of his presidency.
