Issue Analysis No.

08
Series of 2010

SONA: TRUTH OR SPECTACLE?

The true state of the nation is in the people who live under the harshest of conditions in the margins of society yet see in collective
strength the power to make their lives better. Aquino III says, “We can dream again.” Well, he has no sense of history: The people are
not just dreaming but struggling, putting their own dreams into action.

By the Policy Study, Publication, and Advocacy (PSPA)

Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG)
July 27, 2010

The state of the nation address (SONA) is a discourse delivered the “State of Commonwealth Government's
that mirrors the truth about the country's situation and Affairs” (SOCGA) before the first National Assembly in
lays down an agenda for change to be implemented by the 1936 as provided for in the 1935 Constitution. The
President. The nation has heard numerous SONAs but constitution called for the president to inform Congress on
generally these came across as self-serving, rendered in a the state of the nation and recommend bills deemed
denial mode with a list of promises remaining unfulfilled. “necessary and expedient.” The first post-war annual
Thus SONAs turned out to be the opposite; instead of SONA was delivered by President Manuel Roxas before
inspiring the people they provoke disbelief if not public the first Congress in January 1947.
outrage. Rather than unifying, they promote divisiveness.
That is precisely what has happened since the SONA of Critical junctures
Ferdinand E. Marcos that triggered the First Quarter
Storm (FQS) of 1970. That year the true state of the nation
Presidential SONAs have been delivered at the
dramatized oil price hikes, tuition increases, corruption, a
country's critical junctures that include the government's
bogus land reform, police brutality – but Marcos looked
forging of special defense and trade ties with the former
the other way around, feeding fallacies far removed from
colonial master, United States, locking the Philippines to
the social and economic realities. Converging at the old
the latter's various wars of aggression and the U.S.-backed
Congress, thousands of cause-oriented activists
long-drawn counter-insurgency campaigns presently
countered with their true state of the nation in radical
framed as Oplan Bantay Laya. The periods also
language and cultural performances topped by calls for
consistently included the unresolved land tenancy
sweeping social reform. That was how the alternative
problem, economic downturns, martial rule, strikes and
SONA was born, shaking the nation and triggering
armed conflicts, coup attempts, as well as specific issues
massive indignation rallies nationwide.
like unemployment, corruption and human rights. All the
Considered the first SONA is revolutionary leader presidents were at the center of these critical junctures
Andres Bonifacio's “State of the Katipunan Address” where the vast powers that they control appear to have
(SOKA) at the Tejeros Convention of March 22, 1897 or one failed in addressing the country's basic problems and
year after Asia's first ever revolution against colonialism every turnover of the presidency seemed to have been
and feudal oppression was launched. Soon, Gen. Emilio marked by economic and political crisis.
Aguinaldo who staged a coup to unseat the Katipunan
leadership from Bonifacio, would deliver the “State of the Especially since the Marcos years, reforms and bright
Revolutionary Nation” (SORNA) on August 29, 1898. prospects underlined in various SONAs failed to hide the
social realities that are etched in the minds of the people
After a period of similar traditional addresses by who are increasingly wrenched and victimized by
American governors-general in the U.S. colonial years, poverty, unemployment, social injustice, human rights
Manuel L. Quezon as first Commonwealth president
abuses, and other maladies. Both the president and raging issues. There goes a President claimed to be elected
Congress called for token reforms and palliatives in the popularly but does not echo the people's sentiments.
form of laws and policies – even new taxes - hinting that A traditional SONA that is articulated by the state that
however endemic the problems have become these can has been weakened by financial crisis, bankruptcy,
easily be offset by acts of state. corruption as a result of which it has been increasingly
The two institutions thus loathe sweeping social and isolated from the people has been reduced to an annual
economic reforms, ranging from the increase of minimum spectacle of sorts - all sound and no fury. Once delivered,
wages to the junking of destructive globalization policies it is easily forgotten.
and pushing for genuine agrarian reform even if these This makes the alternative SONA an event that has
echo popular demands from the masses. Instead of increasingly gained a broad appeal and deserves greater
addressing the issues, the presidential calls for new laws attention by the mass media. The alternative SONA is
and policies only aggravate the oppressive social and replicated in key cities and towns all over the country – as
economic conditions. Thus, unemployment has worsened well as by overseas Filipinos - and is made dynamic and
over the past 50 years, income inequalities have widened interactive by the hundreds of thousands of activists and
with a corresponding increase in poverty levels, and people from all walks of life joining it. The true state of the
corruption has likewise worsened despite the number of nation as expressed by the people themselves is
laws already enacted and the agencies created to curb it. articulated in streamers, speeches, cultural performances,
In effect, SONAs have merely become messengers of and marches. The true state of the nation is in the people
myths, baseless hopes, and unsustainable programs when who live under the harshest of conditions in the margins
the extreme conditions already cry for drastic change. of society yet see in collective strength the power to make
They market the institutions of power as the architects of their lives better. Aquino III says, “We can dream again.”
reform when these effectively serve the narrow interests Well, he has no sense of history: The people are not just
of the rich and powers that be. A traditional SONA that is dreaming but struggling, putting their own dreams into
neither grounded on nor assimilate the aggregate pains action.
and minds of the people cannot inspire much less mobilize Several alternative SONAs have been marred by
popular support needed for undertaking change. The overzealous police and military forces out to block the
typical SONA has failed to transcend the minute lens of rallyers from marching toward the Batasan complex
the presidency – an appendage of oligarchic politics that which hosts the House of Representatives building.
promotes class interests – so that any agenda becomes Reminiscent of Marcos fascist brutality, countless activists
irreconcilable with the broad aspirations of the people. have been mauled and beaten up by security forces armed
with truncheons as fire trucks throw water cannons on
Aquino III's SONA what otherwise would have been peaceful protests. Many
protesters ended up being hospitalized.
More important is that the alternative SONA is not just
President Benigno S. Aquino III's recent SONA an annual rally of social advocates but mirrors a national
basically does not depart from his predecessors' mistakes. mass struggle that evokes shared dreams. It aims to
His address was long on corruption cases committed empower the people toward pushing for comprehensive
during the past administration. Yet it was short on social, economic, and political transformation. In the
concrete solutions and was silent on the prosecution of the alternative SONA, truth becomes liberating and collective
former president, land reform, human rights, and other action makes change more imminent.

For reference:

Bobby Tuazon
Director for Policy Studies
Center for People Empowerment in Governance
3F CSWCD Bldg., University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City 1101
TelFax (+632)9299526; Mobile Phone No. 09298007965
For your comments/suggestions please send your email to: [email protected], [email protected]
www.cenpeg.org, www.eu-cenpeg.com