Twitterverse On President Rodrigo Duterte’s SONA 2017

President Rodrigo Duterte is set to do his second State Of The Nation Address (SONA) at 4 p.m. on Monday, July 24. Just hours before his SONA, Filipino’s could not help but take to Twitter their thoughts about what they expect to hear. Naturally, there are those in favor of him and then there are those who didn’t really have the President’s vote from the very beginning.

A SONA is mandated by the 1987 Philippine Constitution. It is delivered before the 17th Congress at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City. President Duterte did his first SONA on July 25, 2016 which lasted for about an hour and a half. During his first SONA, he promised to stop illegal drugs and vowed to do an all out war against it and against criminality. Duterte even gave himself a time frame saying he would be able to do it in three to six months. It has been a year and the administration’s operation is still underway.

According to a report by the Sunstar, data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency revealed that from July 1, 2016 to June 20, 2016, a total of 3,200 drug personalities and 57 cops have lost their lives in 63,000 anti-drug operations. It also showed a number of those who surrendered at 1,308,078 and those arrested at 86,933. It is to be noted that P 81.51 billion worth of illegal drugs and paraphernalia were taken and 159 dens and labs were taken down.

SONA 2017, what pinoys say before the 2nd SONA

The President is set to his second SONA at 4 p.m. on July 24. On Sunday, July 23, Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said that Duterte’s speech might take an hour and a half as reported by CNN. Abella said, “The President’s State of the Nation Address will be rendered in broad strokes reviewing past achievements, stating the present situation and announcing future prospects.” Abella went on to say that the President’s speech this year would be “frank, challenging, realistic, but hopeful.”

While the Presidential spokesperson describes what Duterte’s speech would be, pinoys on Twitter also share a thing or two on what they think about the President’s SONA. Here are a few of what we see on the Twitter feed with the hashtag #SONA2017.

Well, for starters, there was a talk about the SONA 2017 becoming a drinking game. A netizen posted a tweet saying for every curse or mention of “drugs,” a shot of vodka or whiskey, a sip of wine or a gulp of beer. It looks like people like the idea as it’s had hundreds of likes and retweets.

There was also a poll that tried to predict what Duterte’s main message would be. People voted either, “I’m good, we sail on,” Enough! I resign,” Sorry, let’s rebuild,” or “I’m dying. Goodbye.” Well if you are interested to know, as of July 14, votes were in favor of “I’m dying. Goodbye.” Another posted a prediction of what his topic would be. Among those topics listed were big lies, fake news, made-up terrorism data, anti-corruption BS and more.

However, there are others who are hopeful that this year will be year of renewed hope for the Philippines. Another posts a photo of Baby Xia on Instagram. Her comment read, “The president cannot do it alone. At the end of the day, we only have one country and there’s no onw who will take care fo it but US! Change is not coming unless we do out part! I am a child by I want to know the stae of our nations. It’s my right to know.”

Hours before the SONA an anti-Duterte rally was already in place. Some comment on it saying it’s either done due to a force of habit or a means of livelihood. One photo, on the other hand, showed numerous pair of shoes as if marching on the streets representing those were killed during the war on drugs. Others, well, others just take advantage of another free day they get just because it’s SONA day. No classes for some schools.

SONA 2017 Memes and Red carpet attires

Meanwhile, here are some of the snapshots we found on Twitter hours before SONA 2017. Of course, the inevitable meme could not be ignored. One has already started with talking about the dress code for this year’s SONA saying four senators could not be identified as “dilaw” just because of their pure white attire. One also posts a photo of Nancy Binay saying her attire resembles his PE jogging pants.

Game of Thrones Season 7 was also a part of this year’s SONA, at least on Twitter. A user posted a photo of a scene from GOT with the words “They won’t hear you unless they fear you,” and said it was very timely.

Heart Evangelista also posted a photo of herself ready for the 17th Congress. The president’s kids also ready for the SONA as shown in this tweet. Senator Manny Pacquiao also posts a photo of him and his wife Jinky ready for the day’s big event.

#SONA2017 ? @SenGracePOE @Cynthia_Villar @SenatorBinay @loren_legarda Missing @SenLeiladeLima ? Sen women ? pic.twitter.com/34vWnNn4tB

— risa hontiveros (@risahontiveros) July 24, 2017