Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who missed the State of the Nation Address for medical reasons, said government officials should not use the annual address as a venue for dressing up.
“I watched TV and could not stand it. The SONA event should be a serious time for the Congress to pick up policy directions indicated by the President. It should not be treated as Oscar night in Hollywood, with a red carpet, where peacocks spread their tails and turn around and around, as coached by media in a feeding frenzy,” she said in a press statement.
Santiago said her colleagues in Congress should get over their “obsession to bling.” She said it was not proper considering how the country is suffering “acute public want because of a high unemployment rate of 7.5 percent and a high underemployment rate of 19.2 percent.”
The senator said she will file a resolution prescribing an official uniform for members of Congress attending future SONAs.
