The SONA I don't miss

I've sat through maybe three or four State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered by the President.

By sat through I mean physically sitting inside the Plenary Session Hall of the House of Representatives among the guests and listening to about an hour or so as the Chief Executive delivers an assessment of the country's state after a year.

It was my job as a journalist covering first, the president, then later Congress. I didn't particularly like it because it's tedious for one.

As is protocol, everyone must be seated an hour before the arrival of the president. And once the speech starts, you can't get out until it ends. Restricting movement of guests is for security purposes.

The second reason I'm not a fan of the SONA is because of the strict dress code. To be able to enter the Session Hall the attire required is at least semi-formal. Can you imagine having to dress up (to the nines for broadcast journalists who are going on-cam) just to sit through a speech?

A third reason is the need to come in so very early in the morning even when I live 15 minutes away from the Batasan Pambansa complex, where it is held. Again, it's for security reasons.

Security risk

There are usually protestors and demonstrators who line the streets going to the venue and law enforcers are tasked to prevent them from getting there. So, long stretches of roads are closed and anyone headed in that direction that does not have proper credentials (car passes) will be held up and turned away.

Congress employees, congressional staff, and journalists covering Congress are required to be inside the complex by 7 AM. You have to go through so many security checks to be able to get to the Media Room, or wherever you're headed to.

They search your bags, tag all communication devices like recorders, radios and cameras, and slap a sticker on you to indicate the only areas you're allowed to enter.

Aside from the SONA, which is set at 4 PM, there is the opening session of Congress (both House and Senate) that starts at 8 AM. There's usually a story or more during the morning session, so it's imperative to be there early.

If it's a new Congress convening, there will be an election of the Speaker of the House, and there's a lot of drama that goes on there so better to be in on the action from the beginning.

Behind the scenes

In writing a news report, just as important as what transpired during the event and sound bytes are what is termed as "colors".

This means additional information to add to the write-up such as a shouting match or arguments, how the players behaved or acted, or side stories that can be picked up from willing sources. And you need to be present for such stuff.

And since I also ran a weekend column of light news bits, being there throughout the morning session and the SONA itself was invaluable for me.

Source

For the presidential press corps, you can head to the Palace, wait for the press bus to bring you to Batasan, then work there after. The only problem is having to share equipment with the Congress Press Corps.

It's tough, because traveling back to Malacañang is foolish when you're trying to beat the newspaper deadline and the SONA ends at 5:30 PM.

Since the SONA is the only schedule of the president for that day (the fourth Monday of July, as stated in the Constitution), I once decided to head straight to Batasan early in the morning and hang out there, which wasn't really very smart.

Fashion show

Pre-pandemic, one of the highlights of the SONA, and most anticipated by the public are the clothes worn by the VIPs and the lawmakers themselves. Yes, it's a veritable fashion show.

Women especially change clothes from the morning session to the SONA. So, while they may downplay their outfit in the morning, opting for business suits, they can turn into a fashion model in the afternoon, as they walk the red carpet on the way to the Session Hall.

For many years, especially in the early 2000s, the fashion was just as big a news as what the president said. Sometimes, these clothes can be a statement in themselves, particularly among the opposition and activist lawmakers.

This fashion show did help showcase Philippine fabrics and designers because like showbiz events, the women were asked to describe their outfits and who made them.

There have been some bizarre outfits that can really take your breath away because they were really awful or hilarious. I had a lot of fun writing about those, and no, I never got into trouble because of what I put out.

Keeping an eye on people

One of the things reporters look out for during the SONA itself are reactions among guests, and counting the number of applauses the president received in the course of the speech.

Because it's quite a long speech, with too many details to catch, the SONA can be quite boring. Presidential reporters usually receive a copy of the speech ahead, but are asked to embargo it.

Embargo means not to release any details or contents until the speech has been delivered. Besides, there are presidents who can adlib, or do away with entire paragraphs of the speech so a journalist would be in big trouble if you release anything ahead of time and get it all wrong.

When you listen to talk that is an hour long (or longer), you learn to sharpen your ears so that you can quickly pick up on something newsworthy that needs to be highlighted even as you tune out the rest of what is being said.

Sitting through the SONA is a good time to people watch. You see officials who are dozing off, or yawning, those who are hacks of the administration and will often lead the applause, the people who react at what is being said, those who snub each other even when they're seated next to each other, and those who are friends.

The good speaker

Because the SONA is more than the usual speech, it really helps to have a good speaker. Someone who speaks clearly, (so you know the ones that rehearsed and the ones who're just winging it), delivers with the right emphasis, when necessary, and does not go off-tangent from the prepared speech.

Knowing how to work that teleprompter also takes practice. Of course, kudos to the good speech writers, who move the words along so it doesn't belabor a point, and the president who gives a lot of input so that they're comfortable enough delivering the SONA like they were just talking naturally.

Nothing can be more frustrating and annoying than those who slur their words, pause at wrong intervals, and pepper their words with expletives! For goodness sake, you're the head of state, so behave like a statesman!!!

TV coverage

In my last years covering the president, the press corps wizened up and passed up going to Batasan for the SONA. Instead, we sit in front of the TV like the rest of the country, and cover it from there.

With the embargoed speech on hand, we can either start a draft of the story we will file, leaving certain items blank (colors) to be filled up as it is going on or once it's completed.

After my reporter days, I still made it a point to watch the SONA on TV, just to get an idea what's going on. But after the current president's first SONA when he mostly ditched his speech, I gave up. I am not going to sit through THAT.

I'm simply grateful that I no longer have to cover that event because it's going to drive me nuts and stress me out.