State of the Nation Backgrounder

From the Official Gazette of the Philippine Government:

State of the Nation Backgrounder

The delivery by the President of the Philippines of the State of the Nation Address (abbreviated as SONA) is a yearly tradition wherein the President reports on the status of the nation.  In it, he may also propose to Congress, before which the address is delivered, certain proposals for legislation that he believes is necessary.  Article VII, Section 23 of the 1987 Constitution mandates that “[t]he President shall address the Congress at the opening of its regular session.”

The SONA as an annual practice began during the Commonwealth of the Philippines. The 1935 Constitution, as amended, states in Article VII, Section 5 that “[t]he President shall from time to time give to the Congress information on the state of the Nation, and recommend to its consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.”  [Read more]

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