First SONA of President Marcos
On July 22, 2022, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivered his first State of the Nation Address or SONA, at the Session Hall of the House of Representatives, Batasang Pambansa Complex, Quezon City. He discussed his agenda during his term as the President of the Philippines as well as, firing a long list of populist policies as his administration’s priorities for the next 12 months. His speech lasted for over an hour and in this blog post, I will try my best to discuss what rhetorical appeals he used.
Rhetorical Statements
Immediately after greeting everyone present in the room and to the people watching, he used the rhetorical appeal called Pathos in the statement "We live in difficult times brought about by some forces of our own making, but certainly, also by forces that are beyond our control.". By sympathizing to everyone about the current problems we are facing, he is appealing to our emotions. It is a good approach since he is not just blaming the mistakes of the people but also, other factors leading to the current situation we are facing alleviating the guilt of the people.
He also used the rhetorical appeal called Logos in the statement "The initial revenue impact will be around Php 11.7 billion in 2023 alone.". This appeal to logic by providing statistics and facts strengthened his claims and proposals. It shows that the projects he intends to do is attainable and realistic making it effective against the people who think that he is just saying bogus things to gather peoples' support.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the first SONA of President Marcos was a success. By using the combination of Pathos and Logos, he is appealing to the masses not just with human emotions but also, with facts, statistics, and logic to strengthen his arguments. Not using ethos is a smart move because it shows that he is communicating with the other government agencies with their respective expertise. This shows the importance of having a balance rhetorical appeal in order to persuade different kinds of people in this chaotic world. Having the best of both worlds is not always bad and greedy. It sometimes, paves the way for more room in communicating.
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