PAGE TWELVE By ELINANDO B. CINCO THE 2018 State of the Nation address last Monday was like no other. It started with a ruckus – delayed the scheduled delivery of the annual presidential address, threatened to end the impasse up to the day after -  and embarrassed the top official of the House while facing its 270 members, majority of whom earlier in the morning petitioned to boot him out of office. It also caused the red face of the Man of the Hour who, days before, had promised to sign the newly crafted Bangsamoro Organic    Law right in the middle of the SONA, with regional and national Muslim officials waiting to witness the event in their finest finery. It never happened. On the lighter side, further non-existing concerns: Vice President Leni Robredo sitting coyly in the VIP gallery beside Madame Helen Gamboa Sotto, wife of the Senate president, anticipating some “insults” from the Man of the Hour in his speech. That too never happened. Same as the Orange Heavy Rainfall warning of the NDRRMC that fizzled out. Instead light clouds and moderate sunshine prevailed, delighting the 40,000 protesters convening along Commonwealth Avenue, with what PNP authorities called “tennis weather.” President Duterte arrived via chopper at 3.50 p.m. and was formally welcomed and escorted by Senate President Sotto and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, and secretariat officials to the Holding Room on the ground floor of the Batasan Complex. As expected, the Chief Executive walked with a swagger, with sleeves of his Barong Filipino folded ¾ style, his hands inside the side pockets of his trousers. Almost like the macho-form of President Erap, only the latter walks with a bowleg. At 4:09, the plenary hall’s middle aisle lined up on either side with honor guards in their formal blue uniform, leading up to the podium which at this time was still empty. The empty seats at the podium were an ominous sign that something was brewing in the holding room. The crowd in the plenary hall was seemingly restless. One lady congresswoman in red terno was caught by TV cameras flailing her arms in what appeared to be as her gesture of frustration. Another lady in a formal gown had  taken a sandwich from her bag, munching it unmindfully while asking a male neighbor for a bottle of mineral water. A male TV broadcaster in the hall said he observed that guests, apparently, referring to the diplomatic row in the gallery, “were amused and confused”  by the unusual delay. Finally, at exactly 5:10, Senate President Sotto and Speaker Alvarez went up to the podium followed by the guest of honor and speaker, announcing the opening of the joint session. After briefly introduced, the President, this time the sleeves of his Barong Filipino unfolded, went a few steps down the center rostrum for his annual 2018 SONA that began at 5:24 -- one hour and 24 minutes late – ending up at 6:10. “Daghang salamat kaninyong tanan,” the President capped his address in Cebuano dialect. Maybe there were    marked improvements in the presentation of the SONA. The plenary hall looked brighter and pleasing to the eyes of the spectators in the hall, as well to the live TV audience. Same as those visual supports in between topics elaborated by the President. Of all government officials present that the Chief Executive gave much special mention to, it was Bong Go who took the lion’s share. His name was repeated three times, and had a longer time duration while being flashed on the screen. My only regret is that I missed the program project name the SAP was being credited for. To my recollection, the most heavily applauded one-liner of the President was, “While your concern is human rights, mine is human life.” But crack copywriters can easily twist this with a repartee, “If you’re not concerned with human rights, then it will mean loss of human lives.”