State of the Nation Address (Philippines)

Speech by the President of the Philippines

The State of the Nation Address (SONA; ) is an annual address by the president of the Philippines to a joint session of the Congress of the Philippines. Mandated by the 1987 Constitution, the speech is delivered every fourth Monday of July at the Plenary Session Hall of the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Batasan Hills, Quezon City. The SONA, which is often broadcast, serves as a means to inform the nation about its present economic, political, and social condition. It is also a vehicle for the president to summarize the accomplishments and plans of their program of government both for a particular year and until the end of their term of office.

An early form of the Address was in place during the First Philippine Republic, which was established in 1899 in Malolos, Bulacan. The revolutionary government took ideas from European parliaments, where the magisterial role of the head of state in the legislature was to mark the legislature's official opening. The Malolos Constitution of 1899 provided for the President to preside over the opening of Congress, as well as convey his messages to the legislature through a secretary. When Emilio Aguinaldo addressed the Malolos Congress in Spanish on September 15, 1898, he simply congratulated the formation of the first representative body of the Philippines and Asia. This is not considered a State of the Nation Address because the Malolos Constitution did not explicitly provide for one.

Local chief executives also give their own addresses modeled after the State of the Nation Address. These speeches are not mandated by law, but are given usually as a matter of practice or tradition. At the provincial level, the governor's speech is called a "State of the Province" Address (SOPA). At the civic and municipal level, this is called either a "State of the City Address" (SOCA) or "State of the Municipality" Address (SOMA), given by the mayor. At the barangay level, the barangay chairman speech is called a "State of the Barangay" Address (SOBA). It is also the practice of the Philippine Independent Church, a Christian denomination formed in the wake of the Philippine Revolution in the spirit of a national church, to release an annual "State of the Church" Address coming from the Obispo Máximo (Supreme Bishop).

Recent addresses have been the subject of criticism by various sectors for being too ostentatious and flashy, with politicians and media personalities treating the event as a red carpet fashion show, thus others dubbing it as the country's version of the Met Gala. Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago blasted the organizers and called the event a "thoughtless extravagance" where "peacocks spread their tails and turn around and around, as coached by media in a feeding frenzy." Presumptive House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez for the 17th Congress urged representatives to dress in simple business attire for future addresses, preferably the Barong Tagalog for men and "short" Filipiniana for women, in preparation for President Rodrigo Duterte's first address in 2016.