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wovt,ctASSv! By Melvin Gascon
SATOAF.AI(/' and Nikka G. Valenzuela
SLBF,V @!9ery-!nqq!!ef THURSDAY / IuLy 19,2019
WWW.INQUIRER.NET
@ to. the first time, an
SoNA orchestra will perform
2g1g tive for a State of rhe
?W Nation Address (Sona)
I at the House of Repre-
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Sona novelty: Orchestral

maneuversinthe House
 this year's event would usher in
Fnllil Al a "more celebratory atmo-
sphere," not a repeat of the
tense and suspenseful drama
Duterte's annual report this that unfolded last year and end-
year on where the country' ed in the ouster ofthen Speaker
stands since he took office in Pantaleon Alvarez.
2016 and where he plans to take "We want to have fresh per-
it next- spectives. We want itgrand,like
The Philippine Philharmon- haYing beautiful music played
ic Orchestra (PPO), the coun- live. This is just a dream, and it
try's leading musical ensemble can happen if we have the bud-
and one of ttle most renowned get for it and through sponsor-
in the Asia-Pacific region, will ships," Bemal said.
perform classic Filipino compo- Her dream came true as the
sitions to serenade officials and PPO will perform for free.
foreign dignitades before the
a joint ses-
President addresses Blue as prot€st color " ipino fishermen and the
sion of the Senate and the As music welcomes the
House at 4 p.m. onMonday. Sona guests, a sea of blue will
"Compared to the previous cover a portion, of Common-
Sonas, the public will be in for a wealth Avenue in Quezon City
surprise as they will be greeted close to the legislative building,
by the Philharmonic. This is an as demonstrators plan to dra-
added lfeaturel where art is giv- matize their stand against Mr.
en significance, because we Duterte's policy in the west
Ineed that, Arsenio Lizaso, Cul- Philippine Sea.
Itural Center of the Philippines Renato Reyes, secretary gen-
I president, said on Wednesday. eral of Bagong ,Alyansang Mak-
About 65 PPO members witl abayan, one ofthe rally organiz-
lplay Filipino classics to wel- , ers, said thousands of people
come the President and his en- wearing blue and carrying frsh-
tourage and other guests, and ing gear would join the protest
the national anthem in the for- against the President's stance in
mal opening of the 18th the country's maritime dispute
with China.
lCongress. - On Wednesday, rally orga-
Bernal's wishes nizers and Police Maj. Gen.
Lizaso said the performance cuillermo Eleazar, regional di-
was in keefing with the wishes rector of National Capital Re-
of filnmaker Joyce Bernal to gion Police Office, and his offi
make this year's Sona different. cers met to ensure that the
Bernal is directing the event for protest would be peaceful.
the second time. Reyes said the protesters
pernal earlier saidFhe hoped would no longer march on the
SONA SYMPHONY The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, shown here in a 2013 concert, will
serenade lawmakers and guest dignitaries at the House of Representatives while they await
President Duterte's fourth State of the Nation Address on July 22.
House, citing the narrowroad to
it. They will instead hold a pro-
gram in front of St. Peter's
Church, also on Common-
wealth.
Eleazar said police expected
more than 15,ooo demonstra-
tors but did not give an estimate
of the number of pro-Duterte
demonstrators.
Focus on sea row
"In the Sona of the ordinary
people, we will ltackle] human
rights, the West Philippine Sea
and defend our soverei8n rights,"
Reyes told reporters as he and
Eleazar inspected the rally site.
Reyes said it would be the
first time ttiat the Sona protests
would focus on Mr. Duterte's
policies on the west'Phitippina
Sea, waters within the country's
37o-kilometer exclusive- eco-
nomic zone (EEZ) in the South
ChinaSea.
Critics say Mr. Duterte often . China's President xi Jinping to
showed aggession toward West- allow the Chinese to fish inside
ern countries, recently tlreaten-
ing to declare war on Canada
over Canadian waste shipped to
the Philippin€s, but spoke softly
about Chinese incursions on the
, west Philippine Sea.
The President came under
fire last month for playing
down the sinking of a Filipino
fishing boat near Recto Bank by
a Chinese trawler, which aban-
doned 22 Filipino crew mem-
bers before they were rescued.
He described the incident as a
small maritime accident.
When h'e disclosed that he
had a "verbal agreement" with
the Philippine EEz, critics
raised a howl of protest, saying
he went against the Constitu-
tion, which gives Filipinos ex-
clusive rights to resources in
that maritime zone.
Lawrnakers belonging to pro-
gressive party lists said they casion to give credit to lc
would display their s]'rnbolic fashion designers or prom
protest against the Duterte ad- dthnic fabrics. rNe
minisfi ation's pro-China posit
"These past days, it yiel
.ltp our sovereign rights in R(
,tsank.Tomorrow, it will giv(
everything, wholesale our
tional patrimony to these sz
powers and their local mini
via the worst ever Cha
change," said Bayan Muna I
Carlos Isagani Zarate,
Fashion statement
zarate said he would
wearing a hand-painted bar
tagalog depictin€ a call on
government to assert Pbilipt
sovereignty, and defend
er
ronment.
The barong was painted
artist Ma Sol Taule, lawyer
rights 4dvocacy group Kar
atan-
It will show a man on a (
nese vessel appeadngto cast
fishing rod tov\rard the Phi
pine flag to snatch one of
three stars.
The message on Bayan I
na Rep. Ferdinand Gai
barong will be a call for a P
national minimum wage and
end to the end of contract (
do) labor scheme.
The Sona has become a fa
ion show of sorts where mi
members of Congress walk
erally on the red carpet, r,\
some female representati
arriving in fancy gowns i
sparkling jewelry.
Some lawmakers use the