PNoy SONA 2012

On July 23, 2012, President Benigno S. Aquino III will deliver his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) during a joint session to mark the opening of the third regular session of the 15th Congress of the Philippines.

There have been 72 SONAs, and the forthcoming address of President Aquino III will be the 73rd since 1936 and the 26th since the restoration of democratic rule under the Fifth Republic in 1987.

The SONA delivered by the President is a yearly tradition wherein the chief executive reports on the status of the country, unveils the government’s agenda for the coming year, and may also propose to Congress certain legislative measures. The SONA is a constitutional obligation, as written in Article VII, Section 23 of the 1987 Constitution: “[t]he President shall address the Congress at the opening of its regular session.” 

Moreover, Article VI, Section 15 prescribes that the Congress “shall convene once every year on the fourth Monday of July for its regular session.”

Traditions and Procedure

Session Hall of Batasan Pambansa during the 2011 SONA of President Benigno S. Aquino III.

The President of the Philippines appears before Congress upon its invitation, for which purpose a joint session is held in the Session Hall of the House of Representatives. Congress issues tickets, and all preparations are undertaken with Congress as the official host.

On Monday morning, both the House of Representatives and the Senate hold their respective sessions in their respective chambers and elect their officials. Thereafter, a concurrent resolution is filed stating that both chambers are ready to hear the address of the President. Sessions of both Houses are suspended.

In the afternoon, the President is met at Batasan Pambansa, either planeside or carside, by the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Sergeants-at-Arms of both Houses of Congress. The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces will then escort the President past the Honor Guard. At this point, the military escort of the President is relieved of duty and replaced by the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House of Representatives, symbolizing the independence of the Legislature. The President is then escorted to the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PLLO), which serves as the chief executive’s office in the House Representatives. The leaders of both chambers traditionally pay a courtesy call to the President in the PLLO.

A Welcoming Committee, appointed by and among peers in both Chambers of Congress, accompany the President into the Session Hall. Upon his entry to the Session Hall, the Speaker of the House announces the arrival of the President, who takes his position between the Senate President and the Speaker of the House. The Joint Session of Congress is thereafter called to order, followed by the singing of the national anthem and the invocation. After which, the President descends to the rostrum to deliver the SONA.

After the message of the President, the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate close the Joint Session of Congress for their respective Chambers.

The life span of each Congress begins and ends with the election of members of the House of Representatives, who are to serve for three years. The life span of a Congress is subdivided in turn into three regular sessions, each corresponding to a calendar year. Thus, the SONA marks the opening of each regular session of Congress.

The number of each given Congress—for example, the present 15th Congress—is based on how many congresses were held since Philippine independence was recognized by the Americans on July 4, 1946. Thus, the last (which was the First) Congress of the Commonwealth of the Philippines became the First Congress of the Republic of the Philippines. This count was maintained until martial law was declared by President Ferdinand Marcos in 1972. With the restoration of the Bicameral Legislature in 1987, it was decided to maintain the count, taking up where the last pre-martial law Congress left off. Thus, the last Congress under the 1935 Constitution was the Seventh Congress, and the First Congress under the 1987 Constitution became the Eighth Congress.

The current 15th Congress will last until June 30, 2013.



Slain soldier’s kin finds hope in Hero Foundation

By Analiza S. Macatangay

NAGA CITY, July 23 (PIA) -- Twenty-four scholars in the Bicol Region share one fate with hundreds of orphaned children all over the country – they are all children of slain men in uniform killed in action.

The scholarships were facilitated by Help Educate and Rear Orphans or Hero Foundation, Inc., a non-stock, non-profit organization founded by former President Corazon C. Aquino in 1988.

Hero Foundation has been in existence for the past 24 years and has never waned in its commitment to provide educational assistance to the orphans of men in uniform.

In Camarines Sur, there are eight beneficiaries from Grades 2 to 4th year high school currently enrolled in Ragay Central School and Ragay Science and Math Oriented High School both in the municipality of Ragay, Colegio de Santisimo Rosario in Libmanan, Bato North Central School , Sta. Justina West Elementary School in Buhi, Iriga South Central School and University of Saint Anthony both in Iriga City and Pasacao Academy.

Scholars are also in different schools in Naga City, Camarines Norte, Albay, and Sorsogon.

Michelle Chan, Hero Foundation, Inc. director for Marketing and Resource Mobilization was in Naga to seek the city government’s help in raising the awareness of Bicolanos about the plight of these military orphans and encourage business sectors, schools, universities, organizations, and individuals secure the future of these orphans by supporting their advocacy.

“Come September, we will be in Naga for the activity cum fund-raising concert dubbed, "Saludo: A concert for Heroes!” We hope that Naga will really bring smiles to the face of our beneficiaries by giving their all out support in this endeavor,” Chan said in an interview.

Every year, Filipino soldiers are killed or incapacitated in line of duty. Based on Hero’s record, each fallen soldier leaves an average of three school-aged children . Hero’s mission is to provide educational assistance in the form of stipends to children or siblings of Filipino soldiers killed in action, or totally incapacitated due to combat action.

To date, 2, 261 scholars are benefiting from the Foundation, 888 of whom already graduated from college and 699 remain active scholars. Forty-one percent of the military orphans are in Mindanao, 33 percent in Luzon, 18 percent in the Visayas region, and only 8 percent from the National Capital Region.

“Hero aims to help more children obtain a college degree or a certificate in a vocational course through a consistent and secured education support from other stakeholders, particularly from individual with benevolent hearts,” Chan said in closing. (MAL/LSM-PIA5, Camarines Sur)


Filing cases at prosecutor’s office in Masbate now free of charge

By Ernesto A. Delgado

MASBATE CITY, July 23 (PIA) -- Crime victims will find it easier to file their case in court, there is now a directive from Department of Justice that allows them to seek justice at no filing cost.

The DOJ prosecution arm here has begun enforcing the directive of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to stop the collection of fees from individuals filing criminal complaints and other pleadings with the department.

Fe Almodiel of the City Prosecution Office (CPO) said the order for her to cease collecting those fees was given by prosecutor Edmundo O. Legaspi upon his return from a conference of state prosecutors with the justice secretary in Manila.

Those fees are exacted on certifications, clearances, administrative and criminal complaints, appeals or petitions for review and other pleadings.

In a statement posted in the DOJ website, De Lima said her Department Circular 25 will, “Address the recurring issue of denial of access to justice by parties and litigants in imposing an exaction on the redress of wrongs when filing criminal complaints.”

In issuing the circular, De Lima revoked four previous DOJ orders which set legal and docket fees for various cases.

Before De Lima’s order, those filing cases in the CPO had to fork out as much as P5,000 in fees, which was then remitted to the national treasury and used to fund the special allowances of members of the National Prosecution Service as decreed in RA 9279.

But the implementation of the Salary Standardization Law has already allowed government prosecutors to receive a full increase in their basic salary, the justice secretary said in her order.

As adjustment by 100 percent of the basic salary of prosecutors has already been reached, “the fees authorized to be collected…shall no longer be collected,” De Lima said. (MAL/EAD-PIA5, Masbate)