OPM artists to hold a concert at the same time as the 2020 SONA

• It is to fight for the franchise of ABS-CBN, against Anti-terror bill, and the jeepney phase-out among many other issues in the country.
• The event will be streamed via Radyo Katipunan, campus radios, and Facebook pages of participating parties. 

During Valentines Day 2020, a prayer rally inside the ABS-CBN compound in Quezon City was supposed to start and was initially planned to happen every Friday to fight for the network’s then-pending franchise renewal application.

However, the company decided to cancel the event as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Philippines.

After Congress denied ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal application, ABS-CBN scriptwriter Jerry Gracio put forward the idea that on the exact day of President Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation address, artists should stand by each other and hold an online concert.

“Sa araw ng SONA ng pangulo, puwede bang lahat ng artists na fed-up na sa mga nangyayari sa bayan, mag-on line concert na lang? Hayaan na natin ang Kongreso na makinig sa mga boladas niya. Sila-sila na lang magbolahan,” he wrote on Twitter.

Sa araw ng SONA ng pangulo, puwede bang lahat ng artists na fed-up na sa mga nangyayari sa bayan, mag-on line concert na lang? Hayaan na natin ang Kongreso na makinig sa mga boladas niya. Sila-sila na lang magbolahan.

— Jerry B. Grácio (@JerryGracio) July 15, 2020

With this, a group of musicians and television, film, and theater artists organized an event called Tinig ng Bayan: SONAgkaisa concert as an “alternative SONA” for those who are tired of the President’s words.

The event will be streamed via Radyo Katipunan, campus radios, and Facebook pages of the participating artists.

Former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno encouraged Filipinos to support the online concert and protest rally.

“It’s time to pursue, together with the people, a just and humane society,” Sereno said during the SONAgkaisa online press conference on Facebook.

“I repeat my message today: Come, let us all unite and return to the good. The President has abandoned science, reason, and God. Now, look where it has all brought us — death, despair, and destruction of the economy, as well as the violation of human dignity. This government treats human beings as if they are not (made) in the image of God,” she added.

Among those who showed support for the rally are Risa Hontiveros, Leila de Lima, Francis Pangilinan, Carlos Zarate, Sister Mary John Mananzan, Chel Diokno, and Bishop Broderick Pabillo.