Over the years, the speeches delivered at the annual State of the Nation Address (SONA) have given birth to several buzzwords and catchphrase that have seeped into today’s pop culture—thanks in part to the media, which helped profusely in proliferating them.
Who can forget about President Benigno Aquino III’s declaration that in his government, the use of “wang-wang” won’t be tolerated? Today, that term has become synonymous with anything that references delay and abuse of power.
It’s amusing to see how the SONA isn’t just a speech delivered before the Congress. It’s also a chance for the sitting president (or at least his or her speech writers) to show his smarts and his humor.
Unsurprisingly, the SONA is a time to stoke the people’s patriotism. Then again, it’s also a chance for the sitting president to unleash snide comments about the administration past.
Aquino’s last speech was with its own share of memorable quotes. Here’s a look at some of them:
- “We were like boxers, sent into the ring blindfolded, with our hands and feet bound, and the referee and the judges paid off,” he said, in reference to the obligations he supposedly inherited from the previous administration.
- “Some have described our Air Force as all air and no force,” referring to why he’s determined to beef up the country’s national defens
- “If someone entered your yard and told you he owned it, would you agree? Would it be right to give away that which is rightfully ours?” the president asked rhetorically, referring to territorial disputes with China.
- “Nothing is impossible to a united Filipino nation.”
- “They ordered rice as if it was unlimited,” he said, in reference to the supposedly unnecessary and excessive importation of rice, which rotted in storage.
- “The Philippines is now open for business under new management.”
- “What was once a sick man of Asia now brims with vitality.”
- “There are still those who refuse to cease spreading negativity; they who keep their mouths pursed to good news, and have created an industry out of criticism.”
- “We are not singing our own praises; we are merely stating the truth,” the president said, referring to the many achievements he claimed his administration has achieved.
- Directing his speech to energy secretary Rene Almendras, Aquino said: “You never seem to run out of energy. With public service, you are not only ever-ready. But like an Energizer bunny, too—you keep on going, and going, and going.”
- “[Manny] Pacquiao does not fight every day, and so we can’t rely on him to bring dow the crime rate.”
- “Now, the souls of the ghosts in voters lists can rest in peace,” he said, referring to schemes that have become cash cows for many politicians, especially in the southern part of the country.
- “There are always people who have …asked if good governance can put food on the table. Quite simply: Yes.”
- “A resilient and dynamic economy resting on the foundations of good governance is the best defense against global uncertainty.”
- “Where a citizen is oppressed, he will find me as an ally; where there is an oppressor, I will be there to fight; where I find something wrong in the system, I will consider it my duty to right it.”
- “Is it not great to be Filipino?” he asked the people, after dishing out the improvements that has transpired in the country in the past couple of years.
- “I stand before you today as the face of a government that knows you as its Boss and draws its strength from you. I am only here to narrate the changes that you yourselves have made possible.”
Source: English version of President Aquino’s SONA 2012 speech
Photo Credits: abegail-schooldays.blogspot, reynthology.blogspot.com
*** This story was first published on the Philippine Daily Inquirer's SONA Special Features on July 22, 2012 ***
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