Aquino’s first SONA will be ‘memorable’ — Palace

President Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III’s first State of the Nation Address (SONA), to be delivered Monday afternoon, will be “memorable," a Malacañang spokesman said Sunday. "It will be memorable. It will be a realistic speech," presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in an interview with state-run Radyo ng Bayan. Lacierda pointed out that Aquino would not only dwell on the problems left behind by the Arroyo administration, but also offer solutions. "It will spell out the realities that Aquino has inherited from the Arroyo administration, then move on to his solutions, move on to the budget, and move on to other things which he believes would wipe out corruption and alleviate poverty, and a call to support his government," he said.

Lacierda said the problems left by former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will comprise less than a third of Aquino’s SONA. Lacierda also said that Malacañang does not have a problem with Arroyo skipping the SONA at the Batasan Complex in Quezon City to accompany her husband for a medical check-up in Hong Kong. "[While] it is incumbent upon the Senate and the House [of Representatives] to attend the SONA, Rep. Arroyo is entitled to that," he said. He added that the target audience of the SONA is the poor Filipino people, not Arroyo. Aquino will arrive at the Batasan Complex in Constitution Hills at 3:30 p.m., according to the SONA program the Palace released Sunday. Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen. Ricardo David, House of Representatives sergeant-at-arms Lt. Col. Isabelito Perfecto Flores, and Senate sergeant-at-arms Ret. Gen. Jose Balajadia will be at the Batasan Complex to welcome the President. At 4 p.m., the first joint regular session of the 15th Congress opens. The session will end at 5 p.m. The President will depart from the Batasan Complex at 6 p.m. —JE/KBK/VS, GMANews.TV