JULY 25, 2011 ANG IKALAWANG State of the Nation Address of President Benigno S.

Aquino III SA 15th Congress NA NASA KANILANG Second Regular Session NA. MERON NG 71 State of the Nation Addresses (SONAs). ANG SONA NI PNOY AY 72nd in history, at 25th ng Fifth Republic. ANG SONA NG PANGULO AY TAUNANG TRADISYON KUNG SAAN NAG-UULAT ANG PANGULO SA KALAGAYAN NG BANSA. SA SONA, PWEDE RING MAGPANUKALA ANG PANGULO SA KONGRESO NG MGA PRAYORIDAD NA BILLS.

ANG UNANG SONA AY GINAWA NI PANGULONG MANUEL L. QUEZON SA Legislative Building NOONG June 16, 1936. BATAY NAMAN SA Commonwealth Act No. 49, INAMYENDAHAN NITO ANG COMMONWEALTH ACT No. 17 NA NAGTUKOY SA 16th ng October ANG PETSA NG PAGBUBUKAS NG REGULAR SESSIONS NG NATIONAL ASSEMBLY .

PERO DAHIL ITOY BUMAGSAK SA ARAW NG SABADO NOONG 1937, ANG IKAWALANG SONA AY GINAWA NI PRESIDENT QUEZON NOONG October 18, 1937.

SA PAG-APRUBA NG Commonwealth Act No. 244 NOONG December 10, 1937, ANG PETSA NG OPENING NG REGULAR SESSIONS NG NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AY MULING NA-USOG SA IKA-APAT NA LUNES KADA TAON SIMULA 1938. GINAWA NI PRESIDENT QUEZON ANG HULI NIYANG SONA NOONG January
31, 1941, DAHIL NASA EXILE NA SIYA NOONG SUMUNOD NA TAON DAHIL SA JAPANESE OCCUPATION. SI President Jose P. Laurel NG SECOND REPUBLIC AY NAKAPAGTALUMPATI NG KANYANG UNA AT HULING SONA SA SPECIAL SESSION NG NATIONAL ASSEMBLY NA PINANGUNAHAN NI SPEAKER BENIGNO AQUINO Sr. NOONG

October 18, 1943, APAT NA ARAW MATAPOS ITAYO ANG REPUBLIKA. ITO RIN AY NANGYARI SA LEGISLATIVE BUILDING SA MANILA. GAYUNMAN, SI LAUREL NA ISA SA MGA DELEGADO NA NAG-BALANGKAS NG 1935 Constitution, NAGSABI SA KANYANG SONA NA ANG 1943 Constitution AY HINDI NAGPO-PROVIDE NA NG SONA SA LEHISLATURA. KAYA ANG KANYANG MENSAHE SA ASSEMBLY AY HINDI KASAMA SA ROSTER NG SONAS. SA PAGKATALO NG MGA HAPON, AT ANG MULING PAGKAKATATAG NG Commonwealth Government SA PILIPINAS, ANG KONGRESO NG PILIPINAS, NA NGAYON AY BICAMERAL

BODY NA, AY NA-CONVENE NOONG June 9, 1945ANG KAUNA-UNAHAN MULA NG KANILANG ELEKSYON NOONG 1941. SA SPECIAL SESSION NA ITO, NAGSALITA SI President Sergio Osmea SA provisional quarters SA Lepanto Street SA MaYnila. ITO ANG UNA AT HULING SONA NI President Osmeas. 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 to be 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. Starting in 1949 the address 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 10:00 a.m. in the morning just in time for the opening of the regular congressional session. The January tradition was continued until 1972. 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 Malacaan Palace or at the Luneta, except 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 Corazon C. Aquino did not deliver any State of the Nation Address. With the restoration of Congress in 1987, President Corazon 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. On July 26, 2010, President Benigno S. Aquino III delivered his first State of the Nation Address. It was the first SONA in history delivered entirely in Filipino. Past

presidents have either delivered entirely in English, or included some portions in the local language, starting with President Manuel L. Quezon, who used the single Tagalog word kasamas in the first State of the Nation Address in 1936the address wherein he proposed the creation of Filipino, the national language. The president who has delivered the most State of the Nation Addresses was Ferdinand Marcos, who held power from December 1965 to February 1986. He has delivered 20 SONAs. Second to him is President Gloria Macapagal-Aroyo, who stayed in power for nine years and delivered nine SONAS. 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, i.e., three years. The lifespan 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 Congressfor example, the present 15th Congressis based on how many Congresses were

held since independence was achieved on July 4, 1946. Thus the last (which was the Second) Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines became the First Congress of the Republic of the Philippines. 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. Thus, the last Congress under the 1935 Constitution was the Seventh Congress, and the first Congress under the 1987 Constitution became the Eighth Congress. The 15th Congress will last until June 30, 2013.
This entry was first posted on July 23, 2010, and was revised and reissued on July 22, 2011 for the second SONA of President Benigno S. Aquino III. For a full list of SONAs, please click here.