History of the SONA

8/9/2019 History of the SONA

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BACKGROUNDER ON SONA

Office of the Presidential Spokesperson

State of the Nation Address Backgrounder

The delivery by the President of the Philippines of the State of theNation Address (abbreviated as SONA) is a yearly tradition whereinthe President reports on the status of the nation. In it, he may alsopropose to Congress, before which the address is delivered, certainproposals for legislation that he believes is necessary. Article VII,Section 23 of the 1987 Constitution mandates that “[t]he Presidentshall address the Congress at the opening of its regular session.”

The SONA as an annual practice began during the Commonwealth of the Philippines. The 1935 Constitution, as amended, states in Article

VII, Section 5 that “[t]he President shall from time to time give to theCongress information on the state of the Nation, and recommend toits consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary andexpedient.”

The opening of the sessions of the National Assembly was fixed,pursuant to Commonwealth Act No. 17, at June 16 of every year. Thefirst SONA was delivered by President Manuel L. Quezon at theLegislative Building on June 16, 1936.

Commonwealth Act No. 49, on the other hand, amended CA No. 17and designated the sixteenth of October as the date of the opening of the regular sessions of the National Assembly. Since this fell on aSaturday in 1937, the second SONA was delivered by PresidentQuezon on October 18, 1937.

With the approval of Commonwealth Act No. 244 on December 10,1937, the date of the opening of the regular sessions of the NationalAssembly was again moved to the fourth Monday of every year,

starting in 1938. President Quezon delivered his last State of theNation Address on January 31, 1941, as he would already be in exilethe following year due to the Japanese occupation of the country.

President Jose P. Laurel of the Second Philippine Republic was ableto deliver his first and only message before the special session of theNational Assembly, led by Speaker Benigno Aquino, Sr., on October




18, 1943, four days after the Republic was established. This alsotook place in the Legislative Building, Manila.

With the defeat of the Japanese and the re-establishment of theCommonwealth Government in the Philippines, the Congress of thePhilippines, now a bicameral body, convened for the first time sincetheir election in 1941 on June 9, 1945. During this special session,President Sergio Osmeña addressed the lawmakers at their provisional quarters at Lepanto Street in Manila, and gave acomprehensive report on the work carried out by the CommonwealthGovernment during its three-year stay in Washington, D.C.Furthermore, he described the conditions prevailing in the Philippinesduring the period of enemy occupation and an acknowledgment of the invaluable assistance rendered by the guerillas to the American

forces in the liberation of the Philippines.

The last State of the Nation Address under the Commonwealth of thePhilippines was delivered by President Manuel Roxas on June 3,1946. After the establishment of the independent Republic of thePhilippines on July 4, 1946, the State of the Nation Address wasdelivered on the fourth Monday of January, pursuant toCommonwealth Act No. 244, starting with President Roxas’ addressto the First Congress on January 27, 1947.

This tradition was continued until 1972, and starting in 1949 was heldat the reconstructed Legislative Building. Only once did a presidentnot appear personally before Congress: on January 23, 1950,President Elpidio Quirino, who was recuperating at the JohnsHopkins Hospital, delivered his state-of-the-nation address to the jointsession of Congress, beamed through RCS in the United States andpicked up by the local radio network at 10 o’clock in the morning justin time for the opening of the regular congressional session.

From 1973 to 1977, the State of the Nation Address was delivered onthe official anniversary of the imposition of martial law on September 21 of each year (official, because martial law was actually imposedon September 23, 1972), and since Congress was abolished with thepromulgation of the 1973 Constitution, these addresses weredelivered before an assembly either in Malacañan Palace or at theLuneta, except in 1974 when it was delivered on September 19, and




in 1976 when the address was given during the opening of theBatasang Bayan at the Philippine International Convention Center.

President Marcos began delivering the SONA at the BatasanPambansa in Quezon City on June 12, 1978 during the openingsession of the Interim Batasan Pambansa. From 1979 onwards, theSONA was delivered on the fourth Monday of July, following theprovisions of the 1973, and later, the 1987 Constitutions.

The only exceptions have been in 1983, when the SONA wasdelivered on January 17 to commemorate the anniversary of theratification of the 1973 Constitution and the second anniversary of thelifting of martial law, and in 1986 when President Aquino did notdeliver any State of the Nation Address.

With the restoration of Congress in 1987, President Corazon C.Aquino was able to deliver her State of the Nation Address at theSession Hall of the House of Representatives in the BatasanPambansa Complex, Quezon City. Presidents Corazon C. Aquino,Fidel V. Ramos, Joseph Ejercito-Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo all delivered their State of the Nation Addresses in the samevenue.

July 26, 2010 marks the first State of the Nation Address of PresidentBenigno S. Aquino III. He will be addressing the Fifteenth Congressas it embarks on its First Regular Session. The President of thePhilippines appears before Congress upon its invitation, for whichpurpose a Joint Session is held in the Session Hall of the House of Representatives. Congress issues tickets and all preparations areundertaken with Congress as the official host.

Both houses convene in Joint Session assembled, and then direct acommittee composed of members of the Senate and the House of

Representatives, to escort the President of the Philippines to theSession Hall to deliver his message.

The lifespan of each Congress begins and ends with the election of members of the House of Representatives, that is, three years. Thelifespan of a Congress is subdivided, in turn, into three Regular




Sessions, each corresponding to a calendar year. The SONA, then,also marks the opening of each Regular Session of Congress.

The number of each Congress, for example the present, FifteenthCongress, is based on the Congresses held since independence wasachieved on July 4, 1946. Thus the last Congress of theCommonwealth of the Philippines became the First Congress. Thiscount was maintained up to martial law. With the restoration of thebicameral legislature in 1987, it was decided to maintain the count,taking up where the last premartial law Congress left off. TheFifteenth Congress will last until June 30, 2013.

History of the SONA

Documents

Transcript of History of the SONA