SONA. .. What's in a Name?

The State of the Nation Address (SONA)

Origins:

· Derived from the State of the Union Address of the President of the United States

· First delivered during the Commonwealth Period by Pres. MLQ, 1935 during the Opening of the First Session of the 1st National Assembly.

· Its first title was “On the Country’s Conditions and Problems.” MLQ's message covered the following issues:

o Relations with America
o Gold Reserve funds and Excise Tax on Oil
o Our Foreign Relations
o Peace and Order
o Social Justice
o Previous Legislative Enactments
o Public Instruction
o Civil Service
o The National Language
o New Taxes

· These were officially “messages” and were followed by the submission by the President of her recommended budget (National Expenditure Program).

The last such message during the Commonwealth period was delivered by Roxas who did so in June 3, 1946: “Message to the Second Congress of the Commonwealth”

Legal Basis of the President's SONA:

· Article VI (Legislative Department), 1935 Constitution. The Congress shall convene in regular session once every year on the fourth Monday of January, unless a different date is fixed by law.
· Article VII (Executive Department). 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.

SONA in Recent Times

· The first “SONA” was delivered by President Roxas (“Message on the State of the Nation” January 27, 1947 to the 1st Congress of the Republic of the Philippines.

· Thus began the tradition of calling it “SONA.”

· But the use of “address“ instead of “message” belongs to President Quirino who gave his “Address on the State of the Nation” January 22, 1951. The SONA in its present form derives from this time.

· The SONA as a ceremony of state began in the late 1960s with the rise of student protests.

The SONA as an Exercise of the Powers of the Presidency:

1. The Informing Power (Sec. 23, Article VII) – The President shall address the Congress at the opening of its regular session. He may also appear before it at any time.

Sec. 15, Art. VI – Congress shall convene once every year on the fourth Monday of July, unless a different date is fixed by law…

2. Limited Legislative Powers:

* Power to set a Legislative Agenda (through her SONA and agreements made in LEDAC)

* Call Congress to a Special Session (Sec. 15, Art. VI)

* Power to approve or veto bills (Sec. 27, Article VI)

* Power to certify to the urgency of bills (the necessity of its immediate enactment to meet a public calamity or emergency) which dispenses the requirement of three readings on separate days.

* Budgetary Powers (Sec. 22, Article VII) – The President shall submit to Congress within 30 days from the opening of every regular session, as the basis of the general appropriations act, a budget of expenditure and sources of financing, including receipts from existing and proposed revenue measures.

Elements of A SONA

· Accountability – the President has to make a good account of herself, an account that will impress the people with its substance not only form. There is no substitute for solid accomplishments.

· Policy Direction/Vision for the Country – “Strong Republic” (2002 SONA), Priorities in the coming year

· Legislative Agenda – what Congress should prioritize; advocates for the enactment of laws

· Advocates for budgetary allocation to implement these priority programs and projects