INTRODUCTION

The Philippines is a diverse country that has been shaped throughout the course of history. It has been colonized by several imperial forces which contributed on the development and evolution of its culture. After its independence, it has been governed by several leaders with different styles of government. It has gone through several reforms from the First Philippine Republic under President Emillo Aguinaldo; to the Commonwealth Government under President Manuel L. Quezon; and a series of several other republics, until the birth of the Fifth Philippine republic under President Corazon Aquino.

The Fifth Republic is currently on its progress, now under the leadership of President Corazaon Aquino’s son, Benigno (Noynoy) Aquino, III. Upon his sit in the office, the people have started to collectively anticipate great reform in the country’s government. The Filipino people have been hoping for the birth of a leader who will guide the country on its way to progress. In every election, people are wishing for a new leader who will bring justice for the crimes of history and who will put the nation on the right track. President Noynoy seems to bring new hope.

In the article, “Corruption in the Philippines” by taclobanhotels.com, the country’s situation is reported this way:

In the early 1960’s the Philippines was an economic power. In fact, during the era, the archipelago nation boasted one of the largest economies in Asia, behind only Japan.

Today, while it remains an important part of ASEAN, and the world community at large, it’s safe to say that those glory days are long over. When most outsiders think of the Philippines today, it is political instability, economic struggle, crime and corruption that often come to mind.

True to say, President Noynoy Aquino is now facing a great challenge of giving rebirth to a nation that has long been striving, not only for a change, but also for uprightness. Along with this, the country’s economy needs to grow and cope with other nations in order to compete in the growing globalization.

In the first State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Noynoy, he declares that he will lead the country to the straight path. This SONA made a great impact among Filipinos. The stand of the president was made clear and the public begin to embrace a new hope through his inspiration. This paper focuses on the discourse of the president in the said SONA.

According to Fairclough (2000), as mentioned by McGregor (2004) discourse is shaped and constrained by culture and social structures such as class, status, age, ethnic identity, and gender. The words and language being used help shape and constrain people’s identities, relationships, and systems of knowledge and beliefs. Basically, aside form his leadership style by example; his discourse during his first SONA and all other speeches is one of the reasons why the President becomes plausible.

This paper analyzes the discourse of President Aquino in his first SONA, employing the principles of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). According to van Dijk (1993), the primary interest and motivation of CDA are the pressing social issues which are better understand through discourse analysis. Furthermore he says:

The core of critical discourse analysis…description, explanation and critique of the ways dominant discourses (indirectly) influence such socially shared knowledge, attitudes and ideologies, namely through their role in the manufacture of concrete models.… how specific discourse structures determine specific mental processes, or facilitate the formation of specific social representations.

Through discourse, a description of something that is happening in a larger social context replete with a complex set of power relations. Van Dijk’s analysis of several modes of discourse access reveals a parallel relationship between social power and discourse access: “the more discourse genres, contexts, participants, audience, scope and text characteristics they (may) actively control or influence, the more powerful social groups, institutions or elites are.” He proposed that the power and dominance of groups are determined by their capacity to control discourse or the access to it.

According to van Dijk, “Critical Discourse Analysis is specifically interested in power abuse, that is, in breaches of laws, rules and principles of democracy, equality and justice by those who wield power.” In addition McGregor (2004) asserts:

CDA focuses on how social relations, identity, knowledge, and power are constructed through written and spoken texts in communities, schools, the media, and the political arena (Luke, 1997). Discourse always involves power and ideologies, is connected to the past and the current context (is historical), and can be interpreted differently by people because they have different backgrounds, knowledge, and power positions—therefore, the “right” interpretation does not exist whereas a more or less plausible or adequate interpretation is likely (Fairclough, 2002; Wodak & Ludwig, 1999).

Furthermore, this paper focuses on analyzing the power relations (between the current and the previous government) in the discourse of President Anquino in his first SONA. Specifically, it aims to identify argumentations proposed by Noynoy; classify rhetorical figures utilized to emphasize negative and positive actions (of the previous and current government); and describe the lexical style of the president in his discourse.

METHOD

This CDA of President Noynoy’s discourse in his first SONA utilizes three “persuasive moves” identified by van Dijk (1993) to analyze “statements that directly entail negative evaluations of them, or positive ones of us.” The current administration of Noynoy is tagged as the “us”: who holds more social power and discourse access; while the previous Arroyo Administration is tagged as the “them”: who is the target/subject of current discourse.

The approach of Noynoy in establishing “power and dominance” is analyzed through his persuasive moves. The analysis is done by pointing out these moves which include: Argumentation (the negative evaluation follows from the facts); rhetorical figures (hyperbolic enhancement of “their” negative actions and “our” positive actions; euphemisms, denials, understatements of “our” negative actions); and lexical style (choice of words that imply negative or positive evaluations). Furthermore, each identified persuasive moves were subjected to the researcher’s evaluation and interpretation.

DISCUSSION

Argumentation

It should be noted that “…specific discourse structures determine specific mental processes, or facilitate the formation of specific social representations” (van Dijk, 1993. This principle is highlighted in Noynoy’s discourse. The first half of his SONA focused on enumerating the negative actions of the previous administration. In doing so, he utilized argumentations to expose the wrong actions and decisions of his subject. This was done in order to build an idea that he is on the good side and his subject is the one on the bad side. Notably, he followed van Dijk’s proposition of this move by first, presenting facts and explanation, followed by a clear pronouncement of his negative evaluation. Such is true in the following:

TABLE 1: Discourse Argumentations

	Facts:	Negative Evaluation:
1.	Sa kabilang banda ay ang pag-una sa pansariling interes. Ang pagpapaalipin sa pulitikal na konsiderasyon, at pagsasakripisyo ng kapakanan ng taumbayan.	Ito po ang baluktot na daan.
2	Ibinigay po ang pondo ng Pampanga sa buwan ng eleksyon, pitong buwan pagkatapos ng Ondoy at Pepeng. Paano kung bumagyo bukas? Inubos na ang pondo nito para sa bagyong nangyari noong isang taon pa.	Pagbabayaran ng kinabukasan ang kasakiman ng nakaraan.
3	Tumukoy ang DPWH ng dalawandaan apatnapu’t anim na priority safety projects na popondohan ng Motor Vehicle Users Charge. Mangangailangan po ito ng budget na 425 million pesos. Ang pinondohan po, dalawampu’t walong proyekto lang. Kinalimutan po ang dalawandaan at labing walong proyekto at pinalitan ng pitumpung proyekto na wala naman sa plano. Ang hininging 425 million pesos, naging 480 million pesos pa, lumaki lalo dahil sa mga proyektong sa piling-piling mga benepisyaryo lang napunta.	Mga proyekto po itong walang saysay, hindi pinag-aralan at hindi pinaghandaan, kaya parang kabuteng sumusulpot.
4	Noong 2001 hanggang 2004, pinilit ng gobyerno ang NAPOCOR na magbenta ng kuryente nang palugi para hindi tumaas ang presyo.	Tila ang dahilan: pinaghahandaan na nila ang eleksyon.
5	Ganito rin po ang nangyari sa MRT. Sinubukan na namang bilhin ang ating pagmamahal. Pinilit ang operator na panatilihing mababa ang pamasahe. Hindi tuloy nagampanan ang garantiyang ibinigay sa operator na mababawi nila ang kanilang puhunan. Dahil dito, inutusan ang Landbank at Development Bank of the Philippines na bilhin ang MRT.	Ang pera ng taumbayan, ipinagpalit sa isang naluluging operasyon.

Noticeably, all argumentations done in the discourse are geared against the previous administration. No negative evaluation and facts against Noynoy’s administration appeared throughout the discourse. Notably, the president managed to control the social cognition of his listeners, he successfully established a bad image of is subject in the perception of the people, and he was able to reinforce all his claims and conclusions by presenting clear facts that directly lead to the build up of his negative evaluations. Accordingly, van Dijk (1993) stressed out:

Ultimately, the management of modes of access is geared towards this access to the public mind, which we conceptualize in terms of social cognition. Socially shared representations of societal arrangements, groups and relations, as well as mental operations such as interpretation, thinking and arguing, inferencing and learning, among others, together define what we understand by social cognition (Farr and Moscovici, 1984; Fiske and Taylor, 1991; Wyer and Srull, 1984). Discourse, communication and (other) forms of action and interaction are monitored by social cognition (Van Dijk, 1989a). The same is true for our understanding of social events or of social institutions and power relations.

Rhetorical Figures

Noynoy used hyperbole, defined by Random House (1973) as “an obvious and intentional exaggeration”, many times throughout his speech. He utilized this figure of speech for two reasons: first, to highlight the mistakes and evils of his subject; and second, to establish the good of his administration. Furthermore, he also employed euphemism, defined by Random House (1973) as “the substitution of a mild, indirect or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh or blunt.” He employed euphemism to create a positive impression, and to show that the current problems of his administration are under control and that solutions are at hand.

TABLE 2: Discourse Hyperboles

HYPERBOLE	CRITICAL ANALYSIS
1. Matagal pong naligaw ang pamahalaan sa daang baluktot. Araw-araw po, lalong lumilinaw sa akin ang lawak ng problemang ating namana. Damang-dama ko ang bigat ng aking responsibilidad. (Them)	The statement highlighted the evil in “them” by over generalizing the previous government, as well as all the other governments that existed before Noynoy’s administration, given the fact that not everyone in previous government/s is corrupted.
2. Sulyap lamang po ito; hindi pa ito ang lahat ng problemang haharapin natin. Inilihim at sadyang iniligaw ang sambayanan sa totoong kalagayan ng ating bansa. (Them)	Although the statement starts with a tone of euphemism, it actually adds up to the heavy weight of the statement that the previous administration intentionally cheated the people.
3. Umupo ka lang sa Board of Trustees at Board Committee meeting, katorse mil na. Aabot ng nobenta’y otso mil ito kada buwan. May grocery incentive pa sila na otsenta mil kada taon. Hindi lang iyon: may mid-year bonus, productivity bonus, anniversary bonus, year-end bonus, at Financial Assistance. May Christmas bonus na, may Additional Christmas Package pa. Kada isa sa mga ito, nobenta’y otso mil. (Them)	The statement is based on facts that supplies details of big digits, making it appear to be exaggerated. The actual highlight of “them’s” evil really appears not on the digits but on the exaggerated construction, intention, and manner of its delivery especially by saying “Umupo ka lang sa Board of Trustees…” making it appear to be so easy to become a part of its Board of Trustees and Board of Committee, while in fact it is not.
4. Hindi pa nailalabas ang Special Allotment Release Order ay pirmado na ang mga kontrata. (Them)	The speaker has pronounced such heavy statement in order to reinforce the negative image of the Arroyo government
5. Pero ang desisyon ay ibinatay sa maling pulitika, at hindi sa pangangailangan ng taumbayan. Ang taumbayan, matapos pinagsakripisyo ay lalo pang pinahirapan. (Them)	The discourse focused on the decisions made by previous government highlighting that those are purely based on personal and political agenda of its leaders, although, in enumerable cases, people’s welfare has been considered as well.
6. Sa administrasyon po natin, walang kota-kota, walang tongpats, ang pera ng taumbayan ay gagastusin para sa taumbayan lamang. (Us)	The statement impresses the listeners too much although the promise it offers is somehow difficult to become a reality, especially among the ranks of government employees with low compensation.
7. Pananagutin natin ang mga mamamatay-tao. Pananagutin din natin ang mga corrupt sa gobyerno. (Us)	Although the statement does not offer specific action plans to make its promise of justice a reality, it still creates a positive impression by giving a guarantee that the government will execute the criminals

TABLE3: Discourse Euphemisms

EUPHEMISM	CRITICAL INTERPRETATION
1. Hindi naman sila agad maaalis sa puwesto dahil kabilang sila sa mga Midnight Appointees ni dating Pangulong Arroyo. (Us)	Noynoy tried to get the sympathy of the opposition by impliedly saying that he will not right away remove President Arroyo’s midnight appointees. He made it light by saying “hindi naman…agad…” But still, he will.
2. Singkuwenta porsyento po ng mga insidente ng extralegal killings ang patungo na sa kanilang resolusyon. Ang natitira pong kalahati ay hindi natin tatantanan ang pag-usig hanggang makamit ang katarungan. (Us)	The short coming is covered up by focusing on the 50% of cases that are about to be resolved (but the fact remains that they are not yet fully resolved). The obvious fact that 50% of extralegal killings remain unresolved, and that there is no certainty that the status of resolutions will reach 100% is also covered up by a promise that they will never stop until justice is served.
3. Kahit gaano po kalaki ang kakulangan para mapunan ang mga listahan ng ating pangangailangan, ganado pa rin ako dahil marami nang nagpakita ng panibagong interes at kumpyansa sa Pilipinas. (Us)	The big problem is made lighter by the motivation that the president is getting from interest and confidence of investors to the Philippines.
4. Ito ang magiging solusyon: mga Public-Private Partnerships. Kahit wala pa pong pirmahang nangyayari dito, masasabi kong maganda ang magiging bunga ng maraming usapin ukol dito. (Us)	None of the Public-Private Partnerships have their contracts signed, but Noynoy keeps a positive outlook and already interpreted the possibility of these partnerships as the solution to the problem.
5. Kung maisasaayos natin ang ating food supply chain sa tulong ng pribadong sektor, sa halip na mag-angkat tayo ay maari na sana tayong mangarap na mag-supply sa pandaigdigang merkado. (Us)	Impliedly, our food supply chain is not yet organized. He hides this by highlighting his vision that with the help of private sectors, we could dream of exporting our goods rather than the actual scenario that we are importing from the global market.
6. Kung maitatayo ang minumungkahi sa ating railway system, bababa ang presyo ng bilihin. (Us)	The statement only presents a possibility of a railway system, there is no certainty yet that the plan will materialized but the possibility of lower prices for goods is already boasted.
8. Nananawagan ako sa ating mga LGUs. Habang naghahanap tayo ng paraan para gawing mas mabilis ang pagbubukas ng mga negosyo, pag-aralan din sana nila ang kanilang mga proseso. (Us)	The solution in making faster business processing is not yet found, but the administration is finding it. He also made the problem appear lighter by summoning help form LGUs.
9. Parating na po ang panahon na hindi na natin kailangang mamili sa pagitan ng seguridad ng ating mamamayan o sa kinabukasan ng inyong mga anak. (Us)	As of now, we are choosing between security of people and future of children, this was made light by asserting that this will soon be over.
10. Magkakapondo na po para maipatupad ang mga plano natin sa edukasyon. (Us)	Currently, the country does not have enough funds for education. This was given positive view by highlighting the idea that soon the government will have funds.
11. Kung ang mga gobyernong lokal ay nakikiramay na sa ating mga adhikain, ang Kongreso namang pinanggalingan ko, siguro naman maasahan ko din. (Us)	There are opposition members in congress who might be criticizing or opposing his leadership but he assumed that he could count on them in order to hide the bigger picture of the problem

Lexical Style

The discourse of the president manifested a wide range of vocabulary that effectively contributed in the development of his discourse objectives. In attacking the Arroyo Administration, several heavy and emotionally loaded words and phrases have been utilized in order to highlight the negative image of the Arroyo Government. These are noticeable in the following utterances:

Inilihim at sadyang iniligaw ang sambayanan sa totoong kalagayan ng ating bansa.

Pagbabayaran ng kinabukasan ang kasakiman ng nakaraan.

Mga proyekto po itong walang saysay, hindi pinag-aralan at hindi pinaghandaan, kaya parang kabuteng sumusulpot.

Ang pera ng taumbayan, ipinagpalit sa isang naluluging operasyon.

Kasuklam-suklam ang kalakarang ito.

Narinig po ninyo kung paano nilustay ang kaban ng bayan.

The president also manifested a distinct lexical choice in addressing his subject. Notably, he uses the adjectives: nila and sila in addressing the previous administration, especially when he talks about their actions that are related to anomalies and corruption. Although, both Noynoy and Gloria are part of the government, who experienced presidency in their respective terms (Gloria Arroyo in the past and Noynoy Aquino at the present), in effect, Noynoy’s lexical choices enables him to establish a clear distance that separates the current administration from the previous. These are obvious in the following excerpts:

sobra pa rin ang binili nila.

Pero hindi lang naman po ito ang sahod nila; may mga additional allowances at benefits pa sila…

…ang lahat ng mga bonuses at allowances na nakuha nila.

…nagpautos silang maglabas ng 3.5 billion pesos para sa rehabilitasyon ng mga nasalanta nina Ondoy at Pepeng.

The president’s lexical choice in addressing himself is also notable. Oftentimes, he does not use the singular forms of first person pronouns, but instead he preferred using the plural forms such as tayo, atin and natin. This creates an effect that the people are with him, and all his actions are collectively done and decided, instead of making it appear to be personal. Remarkably, the effect of Noynoy’s choice of pronouns in the tone and appeal of his discourse will be appreciated more if each of these pronouns will be converted to its conventional form (singular-first person) based on the discourse context. Notice the changes of tone and appeal as the researcher performs paraphrasing (focused on pronouns) in the following:

TABLE 4: The Effect of Using Plural Forms VS Singular Forms of Pronouns

ORIGINAL	PARAPHRASED
Sa administrasyon po natin…	Sa administrasyon ko po…
…nakikiramay na sa ating mga adhikain…	…nakikiramay na sa aking mga adhikain….
…sa ating mga kaibigan sa media…	…sa aking mga kaibigan sa media…
…taumbayan ang nagdala sa ating kinalalagyan ngayon.	…taumbayan ang ngadala sa aking kinalalagyan ngayon.
Marami na pong nag-alok at nagmungkahi sa atin…	Marami na pong nag-alok at nagmungkahi sa akin…
Meron pa po tayong natuklasan…	Meron pa po akong natuklasan…
…una sa ating plataporma…	…una sa aking plataporma…
Pabibilisin natin ang proseso…	Pabibilisin ko ang proseso…

Moreover, the president also appeals for the support of the public through his choice of pronouns. He makes the listeners realize that they are participants in every decisions, plans and actions of the government. He makes them involved. The tone of each statement emphasizes the idea of collective ownership; that although there are leaders and government officials, the spirit of democracy still prevails in every action of the Aquino Government. The following utterances manifest a sense of partnership and collaboration enjoined by the people and by the government:

Government assets and properties: (pronouns imply joint ownership)

Ang mayroon lamang tayo: tatlumpu’t dalawang barko.

Mayroon po tayong 36,000 nautical miles ng baybayin.

Government status: (pronouns imply partnership and mutual involvement)

Napakarami po ng ating pangangailangan…

Ito po ang punto ng tinatawag nating zero-based approach sa ating budget…

Makukuha natin ang kailangan natin, hindi tayo gagastos, kikita pa tayo.

Magkakapondo na po para maipatupad ang mga plano natin sa edukasyon.

Government actions: (pronouns imply collaborative actions)

Heto naman po ang ilang halimbawa ng mga hakbang na ginagawa natin.

Maipapatayo na po ang imprastrukturang kailangan natin para palaguin ang turismo.

Madadagdagan natin ang mga classroom…

Maipapatupad ang plano natin sa PhilHealth.

Ipasa na po natin ang National Land Use Bill.

Sa agrikultura, makapagtatayo na tayo ng mga grains terminals…

Nagsimula nang mabuo ang ating Truth Commission…

Kung maisasaayos natin ang ating food supply chain…

CONCLUSION

Indeed, President Noynoy Aquino though his discourse in his first SONA is able to construct the social cognition that clearly dictates the good in his government and the evil in the previous administration.

His negative evaluations against the Arroyo Government is made valid in his discouse through the facts he presented to back up his claims; thus making his negative evaluations acceptable and believable. In his rhetorical figures, he effectively utilized hyperbole in highlighting the evil of the previous government and the good of the current; while the euphemisms covered up for the short comings and problems of the current government. Furthermore, the lexical style of the president enables him to construct a positive image of the current government. By separating the “them” from the “us”, he is able to reinforce his power and dominance. And finally, by involving the public in the plans, actions and decisions of the government, he is able to establish partnership with the people, and to promote the spirit of democracy in his discourse.

References:

McGregor, S. L. T. (2003). Critical discourse analysis--a primer. Retrieved at:

http://www.kon.org/archives/forum/15-1/mcgregorcda.html#option

Van Dijk, T. A. Critical discourse analysis. Retrieved at:

http://www.discourses.org/OldArticles/Critical%20discourse%20analysis.pdf