SONA: TRUTH OR SPECTACLE?

The true state of the nation is in the people who live under the harshest
of conditions in the margins of society yet see in collective strength the
power to make their lives better. Aquino III says, “We can dream again.”
Well, he has no sense of history: The people are not just dreaming but
struggling, putting their own dreams into action.

By the Policy Study, Publication, and Advocacy
Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG)
July 27, 2010

The state of the nation address (SONA) is a discourse that mirrors the
truth about the country’s situation and lays down an agenda for change to
be implemented by the President. The nation has heard numerous SONAs but
generally these came across as self-serving, rendered in a denial mode
with a list of promises remaining unfulfilled. Thus SONAs turned out to be
the opposite; instead of inspiring the people they provoke disbelief if
not public outrage. Rather than unifying, they promote divisiveness.

That is precisely what has happened since the SONA of Ferdinand E. Marcos
that triggered the First Quarter Storm (FQS) of 1970. That year the true
state of the nation dramatized oil price hikes, tuition increases,
corruption, a bogus land reform, police brutality – but Marcos looked the
other way around, feeding fallacies far removed from the social and
economic realities. Converging at the old Congress, thousands of
cause-oriented activists countered with their true state of the nation in
radical language and cultural performances topped by calls for sweeping
social reform. That was how the alternative SONA was born, shaking the
nation and triggering massive indignation rallies nationwide.

Considered the first SONA is revolutionary leader Andres Bonifacio’s
“State of the Katipunan Address” (SOKA) at the Tejeros Convention of March
22, 1897 or one year after Asia’s first ever revolution against
colonialism and feudal oppression was launched. Soon, Gen. Emilio
Aguinaldo who staged a coup to unseat the Katipunan leadership from
Bonifacio, would deliver the “State of the Revolutionary Nation” (SORNA)
on August 29, 1898.

After a period of similar traditional addresses by American
governors-general in the U.S. colonial years, Manuel L. Quezon as first
Commonwealth president delivered the “State of Commonwealth Government’s
Affairs” (SOCGA) before the first National Assembly in 1936 as provided
for in the 1935 Constitution. The constitution called for the president to
inform Congress on the state of the nation and recommend bills deemed
“necessary and expedient.” The first post-war annual SONA was delivered by
President Manuel Roxas before the first Congress in January 1947.

Critical junctures

Presidential SONAs have been delivered at the country’s critical junctures
that include the government’s forging of special defense and trade ties
with the former colonial master, United States, locking the Philippines to
the latter’s various wars of aggression and the U.S.-backed long-drawn
counter-insurgency campaigns presently framed as Oplan Bantay Laya. The
periods also consistently included the unresolved land tenancy problem,
economic downturns, martial rule, strikes and armed conflicts, coup
attempts, as well as specific issues like unemployment, corruption and
human rights. All the presidents were at the center of these critical
junctures where the vast powers that they control appear to have failed in
addressing the country’s basic problems and every turnover of the
presidency seemed to have been marked by economic and political crisis.

Especially since the Marcos years, reforms and bright prospects underlined
in various SONAs failed to hide the social realities that are etched in
the minds of the people who are increasingly wrenched and victimized by
poverty, unemployment, social injustice, human rights abuses, and other
maladies. Both the president and Congress called for token reforms and
palliatives in the form of laws and policies – even new taxes - hinting
that however endemic the problems have become these can easily be offset
by acts of state.

The two institutions thus loathe sweeping social and economic reforms,
ranging from the increase of minimum wages to the junking of destructive
globalization policies and pushing for genuine agrarian reform even if
these echo popular demands from the masses. Instead of addressing the
issues, the presidential calls for new laws and policies only aggravate
the oppressive social and economic conditions. Thus, unemployment has
worsened over the past 50 years, income inequalities have widened with a
corresponding increase in poverty levels, and corruption has likewise
worsened despite the number of laws already enacted and the agencies
created to curb it.

In effect, SONAs have merely become messengers of myths, baseless hopes,
and unsustainable programs when the extreme conditions already cry for
drastic change. They market the institutions of power as the architects of
reform when these effectively serve the narrow interests of the rich and
powers that be. A traditional SONA that is neither grounded on nor
assimilate the aggregate pains and minds of the people cannot inspire much
less mobilize popular support needed for undertaking change. The typical
SONA has failed to transcend the minute lens of the presidency – an
appendage of oligarchic politics that promotes class interests – so that
any agenda becomes irreconcilable with the broad aspirations of the
people.

Aquino III’s SONA

President Benigno S. Aquino III’s recent SONA basically does not depart
from his predecessors’ mistakes. His address was long on corruption cases
committed during the past administration. Yet it was short on concrete
solutions and was silent on the prosecution of the former president, land
reform, human rights, and other raging issues. There goes a President
claimed to be elected popularly but does not echo the people’s sentiments.

A traditional SONA that is articulated by the state that has been weakened
by financial crisis, bankruptcy, corruption as a result of which it has
been increasingly isolated from the people has been reduced to an annual
spectacle of sorts - all sound and no fury. Once delivered, it is easily
forgotten.

This makes the alternative SONA an event that has increasingly gained a
broad appeal and deserves greater attention by the mass media. The
alternative SONA is replicated in key cities and towns all over the
country – as well as by overseas Filipinos - and is made dynamic and
interactive by the hundreds of thousands of activists and people from all
walks of life joining it. The true state of the nation as expressed by the
people themselves is articulated in streamers, speeches, cultural
performances, and marches. The true state of the nation is in the people
who live under the harshest of conditions in the margins of society yet
see in collective strength the power to make their lives better. Aquino
III says, “We can dream again.” Well, he has no sense of history: The
people are not just dreaming but struggling, putting their own dreams into
action.

Several alternative SONAs have been marred by overzealous police and
military forces out to block the rallyers from marching toward the Batasan
complex which hosts the House of Representatives building. Reminiscent of
Marcos fascist brutality, countless activists have been mauled and beaten
up by security forces armed with truncheons as fire trucks throw water
cannons on what otherwise would have been peaceful protests. Many
protesters ended up being hospitalized.

More important is that the alternative SONA is not just an annual rally of
social advocates but mirrors a national mass struggle that evokes shared
dreams. It aims to empower the people toward pushing for comprehensive
social, economic, and political transformation. In the alternative SONA,
truth becomes liberating and collective action makes change more imminent.

Reference:

Bobby Tuazon
Director, Policy Study, Publication and Advocacy (PSPA)
Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG)
TelFax +63-2 9299526; mobile phone: 0929-8007965
For your comments/suggestions please send your email to info@cenpeg.org;
cenpeg@cenpeg.org