President Benigno Aquino III’s State of the Nation Address: Unequivocal or Vague?

    It is the tradition and constitutional duty of the President of the Philippine Republic to deliver a State of The Nation Address or more renowned as the SONA. The SONA is a yearly tradition when the President reports on the status of the country, and may also propose to Congress, before which the address is delivered, certain proposals for legislation that are believed to be necessary."Article VII, Section 23 of the 1987 Constitution mandates that “The President shall address the Congress at the opening of its regular session,”

    There have been 71 preceding SONAs since the initial one was delivered by President Manuel L. Quezon at the Legislative Building on June 16, 1936.Aquino's SONA on Monday, June 25, 2011 was the 72nd in history, and the 25th of the Fifth Republic."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 “The President shall from time to time give to the Congress information on the state of the Nation, and advocate to its consideration such measures as he shall judge crucially and expedient." Thus, the annual address to the legislature became known as the State of the Nation Address.

    President Benigno Simeon “Noynoy" Aquino III highlights his accomplishments and projects in his second State of the Nation Address. Among these achievements include the lower unemployment and hunger rates, a more optimistic investor confidence and the continuous efforts to fight corruption in the government. He discussed about the eradication of the wang-wang which symbolize abuse of authority, have had fewer hungry Filipinos, betterment of the country’s economy, cheaper energy sources in the years to come, zero based budgeting on government programs, proper use of taxes, a more honest DPWH, no more importation of rice, benefit for police and military personnel, settling the Spratly Island dispute, no to human trafficking, more jobs for the Filipino graduates, implementing health programs for the poor, fortifying ARMM against political crimes, resolution for flood problems, about the monorail transportation system, the new ombudsman, and ending crab mentality.    
     PNoy’s second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday afternoon drew mixed reactions from the Filipinos, with some saying they found it lacking while others lauding it for supposedly sending a clear message to Filipinos. Some gasped the full message of the SONA, but, of course to some the message failed to register. Others appreciated his achievements and laurels, but do ordinary Filipinos experience these achievements and reforms in the Aquino administration? What are the true state of the country’s economy and the lives of the poor in the first year of PNoy? Where would his “tuwid na daan" lead the nation?