I WOULD like to make a bold assertion: there is nothing new to anticipate in President Rodrigo Duterte’s SONA (State of the Nation Address) 2018. If ever there is anything that would fascinate the masses, it would be the superficialities of the whole political show.
Through the years we have been hearing SONAs. There is no need to elaborate in this limited space that the most awaited annual presidential address is a mere promotional rhetoric.
The SONA is supposedly the Executive’s medium of communicating its agenda to the Legislative. To make sense of its purpose, one has to understand the event within the context of separation of powers. Precisely, members of Congress are the president’s immediate listeners. The SONA is primarily addressed to them. Theoretically, the members of Congress should listen to the Executive’s report. By knowing the country’s current political state, they would, hopefully, craft laws and thereby improve the country’s political system and processes.
We know very well that this has been more of an “ideal state” rather than a “lived experience.” Judging from how the Executive relates with the Legislative, we cannot but say that the SONA is more of a formality to be complied. Every 4th Monday of July would be the best opportunity for the President to think out loud. And in the case of Duterte whose verbal engine has never stopped spewing fire at his opponents, this “another SONA” would be better expected as a mere repeat performance of previous speeches. Perhaps, and at best, it is nothing but an upgrade of everything he already said.
Our situation under the Duterte administration is just the surface of the entire real matter. The uselessness of presidential addresses like the SONA is and will be here to stay. So long as Philippine politics remains controlled by clans and fueled by cash everything which the Constitution says is nothing but formalities. Come to think of it: why would Duterte need a SONA to convince a legislature which has been very sold out to his ideas ever since? What do we expect of District Representatives and Senators whose political careers depend on the sitting President’s endorsement?
In a country where the informal transactions are the ones running the political machinery, Presidential addresses are nothing but empty speeches and promises. What is there to expect in a SONA that cannot truly describe the situation of the country? And how can a President accurately and honestly describe the state of this country if he himself is part of the entire scenario that is not only filled with blood but also enveloped by darkness?
If anything, this SONA will be a fascinating show for those who would love to hear the ugly remarks of Duterte. Angry and hopeless people will find his speech as a summary of their sighs. Those who continue to wait for their moment of revenge to come would, for sure, be triggered by another set of presidential expletives.
If one is looking for genuine change, and a message of hope, one won’t hear these in the SONA. The real State of the Nation has been very clear and is known and experienced by those who are suffering. The families of the victims of EJK know what they feel. Duterte’s SONA is not a description of the current reality. Look for what Duterte won’t expose. There we will find the millions of Filipinos and their true condition.