Tag: sona

Full Text: President Aquino’s fourth state of the nation address #SONA2013

Outside the Batasang Pambansa where Mr. Aquino delivered his longest SONA, protesters burn an effigy of him. (Pixel Offensive)
Outside the Batasang Pambansa where Mr. Aquino delivered his longest SONA, protesters burn an effigy of him. (Pixel Offensive)

Here is the official transcript or full text of President Benigno S. Aquino III’s state of the nation address delivered before a joint session of Congress on July 22, 2013 at the Batasang Pambansa:

Marami pong salamat. Maupo ho tayong lahat.

Bise Presidente Jejomar Binay; Senate President Franklin M. Drilon; Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.; Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno at ang ating mga kagalang-galang na mahistrado ng Korte Suprema; mga dating Pangulong Fidel Valdez Ramos at Joseph Ejercito Estrada; mga kagalang-galang na kagawad ng kalipunang diplomatiko; mga miyembro ng Senado at Kamara de Representante; mga opisyal ng lokal na pamahalaan; mga miyembro ng Gabinete; mga unipormadong kasapi ng militar at kapulisan; mga kapwa ko nagseserbisyo sa taumbayan; at sa aking mga Boss, ang mga minamahal kong kababayan:

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President Noynoy Aquino’s first state of the nation address (SONA)

Legislators packed the session hall of the House of Representatives for President Aquino's speech. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez via Yahoo! News)

Here is a text of President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino’s first  State of the Nation Address which he delivered on July 26, 2010 before a joint session of Congress at the Batasan Pambansa Complex in Quezon City:

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte; Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile; Vice President Jejomar Binay; Chief Justice Renato Corona; Former Presidents Fidel Valdez Ramos and Joseph Ejercito Estrada; members of the House of Representatives and the Senate; distinguished members of the diplomatic corps; my fellow workers in government;

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SONA 2009: Thanks, but no thanks, Mrs. Arroyo

That was it, Mrs. Arroyo’s last state of the nation address. Except perhaps for the brainless hordes who clapped for her no less than 126 times even for the oddest moments and whenever she looked begging for it, most of us were unimpressed by the speech.

It was incoherent and lacked focus. If it was coherent in anything, it was in giving the public an incoherent response to demands that she declare before Congress and the nation that she will leave the presidency at noon time of June 30, 2010 and thereafter retire from politics. She was obviously disinterested in taking the high road of stateswomanship and went after leaders of the opposition as if the SONA was a speech on the campaign trail.

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Full Text of President Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address 2009

Here is the full text of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s speech before a joint session of Congress today, July 27, at the Batasan Pambansa. Outside of the legislature, tens of thousands were protesting, and vowing to make it her last State of the Nation Address ever.

Previous SONA speeches: 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008

Here is her SONA speech for 2009:

Thank you, Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Before I begin my report to the nation, please join me first in a moment of prayer for President Cory Aquino. Senate President Enrile, Speaker Nograles, Senators, Representatives, Vice President de Castro, former President Ramos, Chief Justice Puno, Ambassadors friends:

The past twelve months have been a year for the history books. Financial meltdown in the West spread throughout the world.

Tens of millions lost their jobs; billions across the globe have been hurt—the poor always harder than the rich. No one was spared.

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Bring it on, Mrs. Arroyo. Filipinos raring to kick your #conass.

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is said to be preparing to use her state of the nation address tomorrow to raise anew the call for charter change.

It is thus a good thing that bloggers and Facebook users took on this issue with Cyberprotests and a Blog Action Day.

If Arroyo would indeed announce a renewed effort to ram down our throats this idea of a Constituent Assembly (ConAss) to keep her illegal hold on the presidency and to enshrine the failed policies of neoliberal globalization in the charter, then we have a great battle ahead of us and let’s not surrender an inch of our places in cyberspace to the regime’s lies.

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