Philippines: President Benigno Aquino III received more applause for his State of the Nation Address this year than he did in his past two speeches, largely due to statements about accomplishments interspersed with jokes and subtle jabs at critics.
Guests at the Session Hall of the Batasang Pambansa interrupted Aquino's 91-minute speech 120 times with an applause, compared to the 48 times during his SONA last year and 29 times during his first SONA.
Aquino, however, failed to top the record of his predecessor, now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who had been applauded 126 times during her last SONA in 2009.
The crowd mostly cheered Aquino's reports on his administration's accomplishments during his first two years as President.
Aquino was first applauded when he said that he has taken it upon himself to institute reform in government.
"Kung may inaagrabyado't ninanakawan ng karapatan, siya ang kakampihan ko. Kung may abusado't mapang-api, siya ang lalabanan ko. Kung may makita akong mali sa sistema, tungkulin kong itama ito," Aquino said.
He received the longest and loudest applause, meanwhile, when he hinted at the need to pass the "Responsible Parenthood Bill" or the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill.
Staunch RH Bill advocates in Congress, including Representatives Janet Garin of Iloilo and Kimi Cojuangco of Pangasinan, as well as Senator Pia Cayetano, gave the President a standing ovation for his statement.
Also warmly applauded was Aquino's stand on the Scarborough Shoal dispute with China. The crowd also loudly cheered at Aquino's mention of the Maguindanao Massacre case, which turned 20 months on Monday.
"Forgive and forget na lang ba para sa mga naulila ng limampu't pitong biktima ng masaker sa Maguindanao? Maibabalik ba sila ng forgive and forget?" Aquino said.
Aquino's speech was 8,890 words long, Manuel Quezon III, Undersecretary of the Presidential Communications Group, said in his Twitter account after the SONA.
The "longer-than-usual" speech, however, was more than three times shorter than former President Ferdinand Marcos' 30, 427-word SONA in 1969, the longest recorded so far, Quezon said.
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