INTRODUCTION

SONA, also known as the “State of the Nation Address,” is an annual address by the
President of the Philippines to a joint session of the Congress of the Philippines. This 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.

Former President Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III SONA in 2010 was that he
discussed that our country was not on the right path because of the former administration. He
also said that for the first 6 months of 2010 the past administration has spent greater than the
money involved. The deficit has reached 196.7 billion pesos.

In his SONA in 2011 was about the WANG WANG & health program for the poor. He
wanted to end the WANG WANG because over the years, the wang-wang had come to
symbolize abuse of authority. It was routinely used by public officials to violate traffic laws,
inconveniencing ordinary motorists—as if only the time of the powerful few, and no one else’s,
mattered. Former President Noynoy also wanted to have a health program for the poor, since he
wants to give the poor families a chance to improve their lives, because their progress would
also be the country’s progress.

His SONA in 2012 was about The “Four P’s” Conditional Transfer Cash Program &
Education Funding. The “Four P’s” Conditional Transfer Cash Program was expected to be
highlighted in his SONA. He described it as one of his favorite programs, “the Pantawid
Pamilyang Pilipino Program” (Four P’s), which provides up to Php 1,500 cash per month per
family. He proposed the 2013 budget that will increase the allocation for the Department of
Education, from Php 238.8 billion to Php 292.7 billion, an increase of 22.6%. The education
expenditure in 2012 represented 2.57% of GDP.
 In his SONA in 2013 was about jobs, social welfare & Agricultural/Fish Industry. In
jobs: The scholars of the Technical Educational and Skill Development Authority, Department
of Labor and Employment: Of the 503,521 people who graduated from their programs, 6 out of
10 have found jobs; and 70.9% of the graduates have been found employment in TESDA’s
Information Technology-Business Processing Operations program, up to 28.5% from 2006 to
2008. In the Social Welfare: Almost 4 million household-beneficiaries of the conditional cash
transfer program, families with children up to 18 years old will be included in the program. In
Agricultural/Fish Industry: The Agriculture sector grew 3.3%, triple that of 2012. Rice self-
sufficiency on-target. The maximum to be imported would be the minimum access volume of
350,000 metric tons, including the 187,000 metric tons of buffer stock. Ongoing construction of
ports, roads and other infrastructure to benefit the fishing industry.

In SONA 2015 President Aquino is expected to highlight the accomplishments of his

administration, the results of his promises during the last SONA in 2014 and his plans for his
final year as President under his “Daang Matuwid” program. In an earlier interview with
Malacanang, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. stated that Pres. PNoy will
emulate her late mother Cory Aquino who looked back at history during his final SONA in July
22, 1991.

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s SONA in 2016 was about his hard stance
against illegal drugs is seen in the latest tally of anti-illegal drug operations in the Philippines.
Data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) show that from July 1 to 20, at
least 702 anti-illegal drug operations have been conducted across the country. At least 3,411 drug
suspects were arrested between July 1 to 21 , according to the Philippine National Police (PNP).
About 123,346 voluntarily surrendered under Project Tok Hang in the same period. Climate
change agreements must not stymie the country’s industrialization. Government will implement
unilateral ceasefire with communist rebels effective immediately. Mining projects allowed but
must comply with standards and pay correct taxes. No demolition of squatters’ homes without
relocation.
 In his SONA in 2017, he talks about The K-12 implementation, National Smoking
Ban – Executive Order no. 26, Enhancement of land transportation and sea connectivity, 2017’s
Program for Comprehensive Tax Reform, Citizen’s Complaint Hotline of “8888”, 2017’s
National Broadband Plan. In the K-12 implementation President Duterte said during his speech
about the widened reach of training for skills improvement and increased counts of the out-of-
school-youth who participated with the Alternative Learning System. The Smoking Ban is just
one of the few recent orders signed by Duterte. This law prohibits smoking in certain public
places. According to Duterte, He wanted to minimize the access to different tobacco products,
and be able to produce a more supportive environment for those who are trying to atop tobacco
use. The tax reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) was implemented being one of
Duterte’s first in line reforms. This will address the troubles of the previous tax system by
decreasing personal income tax, making simple terms on the donor’s and estate taxes, widening
the Value Added Tax and expanding taxes of oil and automobile excise taxes. The Duterte
administration has founded a public hotline facility last 2016, wherein the public could give their
complaints and concerns against the government. Through this hotline, the citizens now have a
pillar to deliver their reactions on various issues corning the government ways and other matters.
The Present administration’s cabinet approved the National Broadband Plan of 2017 for the
enhancement of the Philippine’s internet connectivity. This will bring access to all community.

DISCUSSION

Former President Noynoy Aquino’s SONA was all about helping the poor and he was
more focused on improving the infrastructure of the country while President Rodrigo Duterte
was more focused on minimizing the crimes that are happening now to our country. He is also
more focused on fighting against corruption, war on drugs how to make our country a better and
a safe place to live in.

The similarities of the two is that they want our country to be better and be safe, more
productive and free from danger.

Their disparity is that Former President Noynoy Aquino was more globally competitive
and establish stable economy while President Duterte emphasis on the safety of his countrymen,
free from any serious problem in the country.
 The significant impact to us millennials is that it is very important to know all of the
happenings in our country, may it be good or bad. It gives us information about who is who,
what is what, which is which?

CONCLUSION

Therefore I conclude that the former President Benigno Simeon “NoyNoy” Aquino had a
lot of plans for our country but because of corruption only few were implemented and he doesn’t
really have the impact to us, millennials also he delivers his speech plainly. While President
Duterte has a lot of plans for this country and it was implemented, just like the National Smoking
Ban – Executive Order no. 26 which was implemented few weeks ago and you can already see
the difference. Before, there are a lot of people who smokes in public places but now there are
only a few people who still smokes in public. President Duterte has a big impact to us millennials
since he is very strict and the way he handles the problems of our country.

SUMMARY

Former President Noynoy Aquino’s first SONA was that he discussed that our country
was not on the right path because of the former administration. His 2nd was WANG WANG &
health program for the poor. His 3rd was about The “Four P’s” Conditional Transfer Cash
Program & Education Funding. His 4th was about jobs, social welfare & Agricultural/Fish
Industry. His 6th was the accomplishments of his administration, the results of his promises
during the last SONA in 2014 and his plans for his final year as President under his “Daang
Matuwid” program.

President Duterte’s first SONA was about his hard stance against illegal drugs is seen in
the latest tally of anti-illegal drug operations in the Philippines. In his 2nd SONA he discussed
about the The K-12 implementation, National Smoking Ban – Executive Order no. 26,
Enhancement of land transportation and sea connectivity, 2017’s Program for Comprehensive
Tax Reform, Citizen’s Complaint Hotline of “8888”, 2017’s National Broadband Plan.
CRITIQUE

Former President Aquino said that our country was not on the right path because of the
past administration and I do agree since it was true that our country was not on the right path
because of the past administration and also in his administration. Our government was full of
corrupt officials and it did no good to our country. He also wanted to end WANG WANG since
it was routinely used by public officials to violate traffic laws, inconveniencing ordinary
motorists—as if only the time of the powerful few, and no one else’s, mattered. I do agree since
there are a lot of citizens that uses wang wang even if it is not an emergency. Former President
Noynoy also wanted to have a health program for the poor and I agree because there are a lot of
Filipinos who are poor that are not very healthy, this program can help them improve their
healthy lifestyle so that they can improve their lives since their progress is also the progress of
the country. He also mentioned the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program also known as the 4
P’s, he said that it provides up to Php 1,500 cash per month per family. I agree in this program
and this was implemented too. There are a lot of Filipinos that does not have the right amount of
money to give to their children for schooling and this program helped them. As for our current
President, President Duterte said that he knew that our country was reeling from multitude of
problems. I do agree that our country was reeling from multitude of problems like drugs,
corruption, poverty etc. I can also see that our President is fulfilling his promise to bring change
in the government slowly, one-by-one. Change does take time especially if the one that you’re
changing is a bit difficult already. “I felt that if change was too meaningful, it had to start with
those occupying the highest positions in the government because change that comes from below
is more transitory than permanent. And I was aiming for permanency. Let change trickle down
from top to bottom.” I do agree that the change should really start from those who are occupying
the highest positions because they have the power to command those who are in the bottom. He
also said that the fight against illegal drugs will continue despite the foreign pressure. “It is the
root cause of evil & suffering” which means that the drugs are the roots of evil & suffering and I
strongly agree because using drugs can make you do things that a normal people won’t do. There
are a lot of people especially girls that has become a victim of rape, murder, etc. because the
suspects were on drugs. Duterte also announced that the Nationwide Smoking Ban is now in
place and it was implemented on July 23, 2017. I was ecstatic when this law was implemented
because smoking is very dangerous to our health, it can cause lung cancer. These are the
critiques that I had done for Both presidents and I must say that Former President Aquino tried
his very best to improve the Country’s situation while President Duterte is also trying to improve
our country, to make it a better one. Let us help him improve it.

REFERENCES:

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/227363/aquino-s-sona-2011-for-kids/story/

http://laonlaan.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-2012-sona-of-president-bs-aquino.html
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/450935/highlights-of-president-aquinos-4th-state-of-the-nation-address

http://www.mykiru.ph/2010/07/pnoys-sona-2010-highlights-and.html

https://philnews.ph/2015/07/27/pres-aquinos-sona-2015-highlights-live-coverage-july-27-2015/

https://www.rappler.com/nation/duterte-sona-2016-live-coverage

http://www.manilatimes.net/highlights-of-dutertes-sona/276001/

http://reporter.ph/the-important-highlights-of-the-second-sona-of-duterte/