Ask if they watch the SONA

SONA or state of the nation address is first and foremost a speech.

The speech highlights his report on the state of the nation, his agenda, and
proposed legislations.
It is a rhetorical piece.
What is rhetoric? An art of effective or persuasive speaking.
September 15, 1898 President Emilio Aguinaldo delivered what could be called as
the mother of Philippine SONA. He delivered a speech in the opening of Malolos
Congress. But back then, it could not be called a SONA because it was not
constitutionally mandated.
The actual first SONA was delivered by President Manuel L. Quezon in November 25,
1935 in a special session of the National Assembly. He said it was a fulfilment of a
constitutional mandate as stated in the Commonwealth Act. No. 17.
THE POINT IS speeches can become great literary pieces.
Probably one of the best examples is the speech of Martin Luther King Jr. called I
have a dream.
Who is Martin Luther King Jr.?
He is an American Baptist minister, humanitarian and a leader of the AfricanAmerican Civil Rights Movement.
His I have a dream speech has now been published and quoted in numerous
books and speeches. Even the current US President Barack Obama quoted him.
Noynoy Aquino also took a reference to it saying pwede na tayong mangarap.
The speech was one of the Top 10 all time speeches in the world by TIME magazine.
In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was released freeing millions of black
slaves.
[REFERENCE TO TOM SAWYER]
The now very popular I have a dream part of the speech was not part of the
original text prepared by Luther.
It was prompted by Mahalia Jacksons shout: Tell them about the dream, Martin. (A
gospel singer. Called queen of gospel)
The part I have a dream was quoted 8 times.

LETS GO TO BACK TO THE PHILIPPINES

First is the I am a Filipino speech by Carlos Romulo. (6 times)
Second is the speech of Ninoy Aquino. Delivered in 1980 in New York.
I have asked myself many times: Is the Filipino worth suffering, or even dying, for? Is
he not a coward who would readily yield to any colonizer, be he foreign or homegrown?
Is a Filipino more comfortable under an authoritarian leader because he does not want
to be burdened with the freedom of choice? Is he unprepared, or worse, ill-suited for
presidential or parliamentary democracy?
I have carefully weighed the virtues and the faults of the Filipino and I have come to the
conclusion that he is worth dying for because he is the nations greatest untapped
resource.

Undelivered speech

I have returned on my free will to join the ranks of those struggling to restore our rights
and freedoms through nonviolence.
I seek no confrontation. I only pray and will strive for a genuine national reconciliation
founded on justice.
I am prepared for the worst, and have decided against the advice of my mother, my
spiritual adviser, many of my tested friends and a few of my most valued political
mentors.
A death sentence awaits me. Two more subversion charges, both calling for death
penalties, have been filed since I left three years ago and are now pending with the
courts.
I could have opted to seek political asylum in America, but I feel it is my duty, as it is the
duty of every Filipino, to suffer with his people especially in time of crisis.

Next is the speech of Philippines delegate Naderev (Yeb) Sao, announces his decision to go on
hunger strike on the first day of the COP19 Climate Change Summit in Poland, 11 November 2013.
***ASK FIRST DID YOU EVER WISH TO BE AN AMERICAN/EUROPEAN

Next is Patricia Evangelistas Blonde and Blue Eyes

19 yr old student from UP
2004 international public speaking competition in London
Besting 59 students from 37 countries
Theme Borderless World
When I was little, I wanted what many Filipino children all over the
country wanted. I wanted to be blond, blue-eyed, and white. I thought-if I just wished hard enough and was good
enough, Id wake up on Christmas morning with snow outside my window and freckles across my nose!
More than four centuries under western domination does that to you. I
have sixteen cousins. In a couple of years, there will just be five of us left in the Philippines, the rest will have gone
abroad in search of greener pastures. Its not just an anomaly; its a trend; the Filipino diaspora. Today, about eight
million Filipinos are scattered around the world.
There are those who disapprove of Filipinos who choose to leave. I used to. Maybe this is a natural reaction of
someone who was left behind, smiling for family pictures that get emptier with each succeeding year. Desertion, I
called it. My country is a land that has perpetually fought for the freedom to be itself. Our heroes offered their lives in
the struggle against the Spanish, the Japanese, the Americans. To pack up and deny that identity is tantamount to
spitting on that sacrifice.
Or is it? I dont think so, not anymore. True, there is no denying this phenomenon, aided by the fact that what was
once the other side of the world is now a twelve-hour plane ride away. But this is a borderless world, where no
individual can claim to be purely from where he is now. My mother is of Chinese descent, my father is a quarter
Spanish, and I call myself a pure Filipino-a hybrid of sorts resulting from a combination of cultures.
Each square mile anywhere in the world is made up of people of different ethnicities, with national identities and
individual personalities. Because of this, each square mile is already a microcosm of the world. In as much as this
blessed spot that is England is the world, so is my neighbourhood back home.
Seen this way, the Filipino Diaspora, or any sort of dispersal of
populations, is not as ominous as so many claim. It must be understood. I come from a Third World country, one that
is still trying mightily to get back on its feet after many years of dictatorship. But we shall make it, given more time.
Especially now, when we have thousands of eager young minds who graduate from college every year. They have
skills. They need jobs. We cannot absorb them all.

A borderless world presents a bigger opportunity, yet one that is not so much abandonment but an extension of
identity. Even as we take, we give back. We are the 40,000 skilled nurses who support the UKs National Health
Service. We are the quarter-of-a-million seafarers manning most of the worlds commercial ships. We are your
software engineers in Ireland, your construction workers in the Middle East, your doctors and caregivers in North
America, and, your musical artists in Londons West End.
Nationalism isnt bound by time or place. People from other nations migrate to create new nations, yet still remain
essentially who they are. British society is itself an example of a multi-cultural nation, a melting pot of races, religions,
arts and cultures. We are, indeed, in a borderless world!
Leaving sometimes isnt a matter of choice. Its coming back that is.
The Hobbits of the shire traveled all over Middle-Earth, but they chose to come home, richer in every sense of the
word. We call people like these balikbayans or the returnees-those who followed their dream, yet choose to return
and share their mature talents and good fortune.
In a few years, I may take advantage of whatever opportunities come my way. But I will come home. A borderless
world doesnt preclude the idea of a home. Im a Filipino, and Ill always be one. It isnt about just geography; it isnt
about boundaries. Its about giving back to the country that shaped me.
And thats going to be more important to me than seeing snow outside my windows on a bright Christmas morning.
Mabuhay. and Thank you.

Manuel L. Quezon SONA

I am addressing the National Assembly today on the fundamental responsibility of a state

on a question involving our very existence when we become a free member of the family of
nations.

National freedom now stands before us as a shining lightthe freedom that

for many years gleamed only fitful candle in the distant dark. We shall make

ourselves ready to grasp the torch, so that no predatory force may ever
strike it from our hands!