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 the

Nation Address (abbreviated as SONA) is a yearly tradition wherein
the President reports on the status of the nation. In it, he may also
propose to Congress, before which the address is delivered, certain
proposals for legislation that he believes is necessary. Article VII,
Section 23 of the 1987 Constitution mandates that “[t]he President
shall 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 the
Congress information on the state of the Nation, and recommend to
its consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and
expedient.”

The opening of the sessions of the National Assembly was fixed,

pursuant to Commonwealth Act No. 17, at June 16 of every year. The
first SONA was delivered by President Manuel L. Quezon at the
Legislative Building on June 16, 1936.

Commonwealth Act No. 49, on the other hand, amended CA No. 17

and designated the sixteenth of October as the date of the opening of
the regular sessions of the National Assembly. Since this fell on a
Saturday in 1937, the second SONA was delivered by President
Quezon 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 National
Assembly was again moved to the fourth Monday of every year,
starting in 1938. President Quezon delivered his last State of the
Nation Address on January 31, 1941, as he would already be in exile
the following year due to the Japanese occupation of the country.

President Jose P. Laurel of the Second Philippine Republic was able

to deliver his first and only message before the special session of the
National Assembly, led by Speaker Benigno Aquino, Sr., on October
BACKGROUNDER ON SONA

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

With the defeat of the Japanese and the re-establishment of the

Commonwealth Government in the Philippines, the Congress of the
Philippines, now a bicameral body, convened for the first time since
their 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 a
comprehensive report on the work carried out by the Commonwealth
Government during its three-year stay in Washington, D.C.
Furthermore, he described the conditions prevailing in the Philippines
during 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 the
Philippines was delivered by President Manuel Roxas on June 3,
1946. After the establishment of the independent Republic of the
Philippines on July 4, 1946, the State of the Nation Address was
delivered on the fourth Monday of January, pursuant to
Commonwealth Act No. 244, starting with President Roxas’ address
to the First Congress on January 27, 1947.

This tradition was continued until 1972, and starting in 1949 was held
at the reconstructed Legislative Building. Only once did a president
not appear personally before Congress: on January 23, 1950,
President Elpidio Quirino, who was recuperating at the Johns
Hopkins Hospital, delivered his state-of-the-nation address to the joint
session of Congress, beamed through RCS in the United States and
picked up by the local radio network at 10 o’clock in the morning just
in time for the opening of the regular congressional session.

From 1973 to 1977, the State of the Nation Address was delivered on
the official anniversary of the imposition of martial law on September
21 of each year (official, because martial law was actually imposed
on September 23, 1972), and since Congress was abolished with the
promulgation of the 1973 Constitution, these addresses were
delivered before an assembly either in Malacañan Palace or at the
Luneta, except in 1974 when it was delivered on September 19, and
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in 1976 when the address was given during the opening of the
Batasang Bayan at the Philippine International Convention Center.

President Marcos began delivering the SONA at the Batasan

Pambansa in Quezon City on June 12, 1978 during the opening
session of the Interim Batasan Pambansa. From 1979 onwards, the
SONA was delivered on the fourth Monday of July, following the
provisions of the 1973, and later, the 1987 Constitutions.

The only exceptions have been in 1983, when the SONA was
delivered on January 17 to commemorate the anniversary of the
ratification of the 1973 Constitution and the second anniversary of the
lifting of martial law, and in 1986 when President Aquino did not
deliver 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 the
Session Hall of the House of Representatives in the Batasan
Pambansa 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 same
venue.

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

Both houses convene in Joint Session assembled, and then direct a

committee composed of members of the Senate and the House of
Representatives, to escort the President of the Philippines to the
Session 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. The
lifespan of a Congress is subdivided, in turn, into three Regular
BACKGROUNDER ON SONA

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, Fifteenth

Congress, is based on the Congresses held since independence was
achieved on July 4, 1946. Thus the last Congress of the
Commonwealth of the Philippines became the First Congress. This
count was maintained up to martial law. With the restoration of the
bicameral legislature in 1987, it was decided to maintain the count,
taking up where the last premartial law Congress left off. The
Fifteenth Congress will last until June 30, 2013.