With so much political analysis, commentaries, and quotes being shared on all media platforms, it cannot be denied that the first State of the Nation Address (SONA) of newly-elected Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has been the highlight of July 25, 2016. Since a lot of sites have already been broadcasting and analyzing every single detail of the SONA, let’s put the spotlight on our favorite social media platform where comments are limited to 140 characters — Twitter.
#SONA2016 Tweets from the Philippines have reached over 280,ooo during the live SONA broadcast from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. today, peaking at over 3,000 Tweets per minute as Duterte talked about the implementation of the Reproductive Health Law at 4:29 p.m. This isn’t surprising, given that Duterte’s name easily gets a spot in the trending topics pre and post-election period.
The most retweeted and most liked Tweets are shown in the interactive graph below from Twitter Philippines:
(Point your cursor on the line graph for more details. Click photos to view notable tweets.)
As usual, notable conversations on Twitter about the President’s first public address since the inauguration was a mix of commentaries about the speech and highlights taken with humor. In addition, the most shared and liked Tweets reflected the points raised during the President’s 92-minute speech that resonated the most among Filipino citizens.
Here are some Tweets that caught the spotlight:
Thanks to the Presidential Communications Group, we also have access to behind-the-scenes at the Batasang Pambansa prior Duterte’s speeech. Here are the videos shared on Twitter with the hashtags #DuterteSONA and #PartnersforChange:
President Duterte Arrives at Batasang Pambansa by means of Chopper. #DuterteSONA #PartnerForChange https://t.co/WEsGReeq6E
— Presidential Comm (@PresidentialCom) July 25, 2016
President Duterte enters session hall for SONA 2016. https://t.co/IQQACGkFuZ
— Presidential Comm (@PresidentialCom) July 25, 2016
“The ability to connect, comment and discuss with others in real-time, especially on a significant event like the President’s first State of the Nation Address is important for the Filipino democracy. This is why we are honored to partner with the current administration and empower them with the necessary platform and tools to make its digital governance efforts possible within and beyond the country’s borders.” — Pratiksha Rao, Head of Media Partnerships, Twitter Southeast Asia.