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Aquino prepares for first SONA
After receiving status reports from various departments, President Benigno Aquino III is now preparing for his first State of the Nation Address, and has shared with his Cabinet the "structure and tone" of the speech he will deliver to the 15th Congress when it opens on July 26. Aquino will hold Cabinet meetings next week to discuss the findings of the various department secretaries, which will be vital to the content of his SONA, presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a statement. Lacierda also said that Aquino has already indicated to his Cabinet the "structure and tone" for his address, adding that the Cabinet will take on the initial draft of the presidential speech in next week's meetings. In the first Cabinet meeting last June 30, Aquino had instructed his secretaries to submit reports on their respective departments — budget spending, outstanding programs, proposed policies, among others — within the next two weeks. Lacierda said initial reports have come in and these are expected to be completed within the day. The Presidential Management Staff is already working on the preliminary staff work for the SONA, the president’s spokesman said. Official acts so far Some of Aquino's official acts in his first two weeks of office include:
- directing the review of the weather forecasting system and putting in place "proactive" anti-disaster measures;
- reminding the Armed Forces to uphold human rights amid a string of extrajudicial killings in the first few days of his administration; and
- reverting the control of President's Social Fund — also known as the president's pork barrel — back to the Presidential Management Staff.
