MANILA, Philippines?The SONA, or State of the Nation Address, is a presidential tradition that, in the Philippines, dates back 73 years.

Every year, the President of the Philippines gives Congress and the people an update on the national situation through the SONA.

The practice was originally mandated by Article VII, Section 5 of the 1935 Philippine Constitution, which states: ?The 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.?

This provision was copied from the United States Constitution, the Philippines being under American rule at the time. The US provision, however, talked of the state of the union.

The tradition continues to this day. The 1987 Philippine Constitution requires the President to address the Congress at the opening of its regular session on the fourth Monday of July (Article VII, Section 23 and Article VI, Section 15).

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has given eight SONAs so far:

3 paper boats

? 2001?Ms Arroyo began her first SONA with a story of three boys from the infamous Payatas dump in Quezon City who supposedly wrote letters which they folded into boats and let sail on the Pasig River toward Malacañang Palace.

Presenting the boys?Jason Van Banuyon, Jomar Pabalan and Erwin Dolera?to her audience, she promised more food, better educational opportunities, more houses and more jobs.

Ms Arroyo also revealed her four-point program to fight poverty: free enterprise, a modernized agricultural sector, social bias toward the disadvantaged, and higher moral standards for government and society.

Strong republic

? 2002?Ms Arroyo called for giant steps toward the achievement of a strong republic. She said two of its features were independence from class and sectoral interests and capacity to execute good policy and deliver essential services.

She used the galunggong (mackerel scad), the so-called poor person?s fish, to illustrate how her administration had kept food prices stable.

? 2003?A day after quelling the Oakwood mutiny, Ms Arroyo declared that the country remained at war against terrorism, corruption, disease and illegal drugs.

She directed attention to her baby granddaughter Mikaela, who was seated in the gallery, and said: ?Just as I will do everything to make sure that the future will be kind to Mikaela and her generation, so must we all strive to turn our fears into a resolve to do right not just by ourselves, but by our children and grandchildren.?

Call for Cha-cha

? 2004?Ms Arroyo justified her decision to withdraw the Philippine contingent from war-torn Iraq to save overseas Filipino worker Angelo de la Cruz from decapitation by Iraqi insurgents. She then called on Filipinos to help save the economy.

Ms Arroyo also outlined her key reform packages: job creation through economic growth, anticorruption through good government, social justice and basic needs, education and youth opportunity, and energy independence.

? 2005?Ms Arroyo sounded the call for Charter change (Cha-cha), saying the country needed it to surmount the unprecedented challenges of the 21st century. She made no mention of the ?Hello Garci? and ?jueteng? controversies hounding her.

Super-regions

? 2006?After surviving an impeachment attempt, Ms Arroyo called her supporters in Congress ?the true friends of the Filipino people.? She cited local government officials and their achievements. Some of these officials were in the audience.

She also detailed her program to develop economic ?super regions?: the North Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle, the Metro Luzon Urban Beltway, the Central Philippines Region, the Mindanao Super Region and the Cyber Corridor.

Ms Arroyo presented ordinary Filipinos whom she said the government had been able to help. She also acknowledged the presence of boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, the medalists in the 2005 Southeast Asian Games, and the first Filipinos to climb Mount Everest.

In defense of VAT

? 2007?The President gave a ?tour? of the super-regions, enumerating the developments achieved in each area. She also said she wished to see the Philippines become a ?First World? country in 20 years.

? 2008?Ms Arroyo spurned calls for the scrapping of the hugely unpopular value-added tax on oil. She credited the VAT with shielding the Philippines from the effects of the global economic crisis. Cyril L. Bonabente, Inquirer Research

Sources: Inquirer Archives, www.chanrobles.com, www.quezon.ph