STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS 2019

A paper submitted to

Prof. Romeo R. Tinagan, DPA

Recoletos de Bacolod Graduate School

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for

the course Organization and Management to

the degree of Master in Public Administration and Governance

Submitted By:

Louieze Gerald C. Gerolin

October 10, 2019
 STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS 2019

History

The SONA, as an annual practice we know it today, began during the Commonwealth of
the Philippines. There is no constitutional mandate directing what a SONA speech is supposed to
center on, but its roots can be traced to a provision in the 1935 Constitution.

Article VII, Sec. 10(5) of the 1935 Constitution states that, “The President shall from time
to time give to the Congress information on the state of the Nation, and recommend to its
consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”

The first SONA was delivered by then-President Manuel L. Quezon during a special session
of the National Assembly on November 25, 1935. But over the following years, that date would
change, starting with a series of amendments that moved the opening session of Congress
around.

The second SONA was delivered by President Quezon on June 16, 1936, the first to be
delivered before a regular session. In 1937, it was October 16, but since that fell on a Saturday in
1937, Quezon delivered his third SONA on the following Monday, October 18. Then, starting 1938,
Congress' opening sessions were held on the fourth Monday of January, so the SONA fell on that
day until Quezon's last in 1941, just before the Japanese occupation.

In second republic, President Jose P. Laurel was able to deliver his first and only message
before the special session of the National Assembly, led by Speaker Benigno Aquino, on October
18, 1943, four days after the Republic was established. But noted that there was no mention of a
SONA in the 1943 Constitution. As such, this one isn't technically considered a SONA.

After the Commonwealth was restored in 1945, Congress reconvened on June 9. Then-
President Sergio Osmeña delivered his first and only SONA on that day. The following year, then-
President Manuel Roxas delivered the Commonwealth's last SONA on June 6.

Then, after the establishment of the independent Republic of the Philippines on July 4,
1946, the SONA was again set to be delivered on the fourth Monday of every January, starting
with President Roxas’s address on January 27, 1947. Notably, in January 1950, then-President
Elpidio Quirino delivered a SONA via radio broadcast, while laying on his hospital bed in America.
Then in January 1970, Ferdinand Marcos' SONA was met with violent protest, with rocks hurled
his way.
 The January tradition continued until January 1972—the year that Ferdinand Marcos
declared martial law. From 1973 to 1977, Marcos delivered the SONA on the official anniversary
of his imposition of martial law: September 21.

Since then, the chief executive has been expected to address the legislature at on the
fourth Monday of July. The date and venue of the address has varied throughout administrations
over the years. The current 1987 Constitution did not retain the provision on SONA, but instead
merely provides in Article VI, Sec. 23 that: “The President shall address the Congress at the opening
of its regular session. He may also appear before it at any other time.”

Reaction

President Rodrigo Duterte used his 4th State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday,
July 22, to tell Congress what laws he wants passed and what Filipinos can expect in the last half
of his term but due to unfavorable weather condition, the presidential chopper was not able to
fly at the designated time and thus, the SONA began at 5:15 in the afternoon which is more than
an hour late as compared to the original plotted schedule. As the father of the nation, President
Duterte delivered his SONA, highlighting the accomplishments of his administration for the past
year and proposing the changes that he would still want to pursue in the coming years. It lasted
an hour and 33 minutes, making it his 3rd longest SONA so far. It also contained 7 expletives,
much less than his second SONA (25 expletives) but more than his first and third SONAs which
had no curse words.

“We cannot move forward if we allow the past to pull us back. Finger-pointing is not the
way. That is why I will not waste precious time dwelling on the sins of the past or blaming
those who are perceived to be responsible for the mess that we are in and suffering from.”

Yes indeed, the former presidents present on that occasion were indeed people from the past.
People that has been pointed out and convicted due to the efforts of president after them.

I also admire it when he said that he would just extract lessons from the mistakes of the
past administrations which the presidents before him somehow failed to do. Most of the former
president’s first action upon inauguration of their presidency was to blame the past
administration for the lapses and thee problems that they would be encountering. President
Duterte, is different. He knows what the problems was beforehand and already studied how to
deal with it. First things first. He didn’t say that he would just let the past administration’s
mistakes just be bygones, it would not be his priority but still if they are answerable to their
actions, the law will speak for itself and they would have their day of reckoning. In line with this
was his statement for his ruling’s morality.
Rest assured that President Duterte, directly conveys this message to the religious leaders of our
country, this is also a message for all the people out there who sees his actions as immoral. He
seeks equality in everyone under his leadership. It is worth noting that he wants to assure everyone
else that vindictiveness will not be the basis of his leadership. As he said, "I wish to assure everyone
though that vindictiveness is not in my system. Just like you and I, all, equal treatment and equal
protection are what I ask for our people."

"To the CPP-NPA-NDF, let us end these decades of skirmishes. We are going
nowhere... getting bloodier by the day." He announced a unilateral ceasefire with the CPP-
NPA-NDF immediately. On my knowledge, this action has never been done by an elected
president on his or her first state of the nation address. I believe that the tension between both
parties will decrease due to the fact that the president is from Mindanao himself. With this I am
looking forward to a peaceful and progressing Mindanao. In line with this the president also
gave his thought regarding the matter on the West Philippines Sea.

The President’s first SONA, was the most peaceful SONA ever happened in the history of
our dear country. He acknowledge the presence of our Lumad brothers and let them enter the
Malacanang, fed them and talk to them about their concerns. This is so personal, he is literally
listening to the grievance odd our fellowmen. Despite controversies about his statement on a
certain rape case and him being a womanizer I appreciate the fact that the president has raised
points regarding this matter. Women’s rights should be respected and I am glad that the president
believes in the potentials of Filipino women.

The accomplishments of the past show that there is nothing that this nation could not
achieve for as long as there is an effort to do so. It reveals how much changes we have had and
how much we are still expecting to have in the future. Based on the SONA, one thing that I
realized is that it takes a village to build a better community. Hand in hand if people from the
government and laypeople will do a collaborative effort, nothing is impossible. Together, we
shall rise at the pedestal.