Kabataan Partylist Rep. Renee Co Wears a Hand-Painted Protest Attire to the SONA

Despite having no fashion coverage, the SONA 2025 is a strong sartorial medium.

Published on Jul 28, 2025

The State of the Nation Address (SONA) serves as a vantage point that lets the country look back on the progress that has been made and look forward to the blueprint for the coming years. Today, July 28, 2025, is the day President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. delivers his fourth. While the content of the administration’s report is of utmost significance, the SONA is also a powerful medium for attendees to convey their own messages through their fashion choices.

Last year, we saw the implementation of stricter dress codes, with the House Secretary General Reginald Velasco stating, "It is a formal event, so coat and tie, or barong, or an outfit paying homage to our culture [are appropriate]," adding that "this is not the time and place to express protests. You can do that after."

This year, there are “no staged ceremonies, fashion coverage, or photo setups in the red carpet,” as written in a memorandum issued three days prior to the event. The decision to simplify and tone down the SONA is an effort to remain sensitive as Filipino communities continue to recover from the disasters caused by the recent storms. However, a certain member of the House of Representatives had a different idea to address the issue.

LOOK:

Cong. Renee Co Wears a Hand-Painted Protest Attire for Her First SONA

Kabataan Partylist representative Renee Co graces the SONA for the first time, and she does so in a repurposed skirt—the same one she wore when she graduated from Law at the University of the Philippines. It was designed and painted by a fellow UP alumnus, Fine Arts graduate Albert Raqueño, who also worked on the partylist’s past four SONA attires. This time, his work was in collaboration with Gaia Mauricio of the youth cultural organization, Panday Sining.

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PHOTO: X/KabataanPL.

The volunteer artists painted a young Filipina rising from devastating floodwaters, fueled by the fiery aspiration to break the seat that’s being “fought over by local elites propped up by foreign power,” Kabataan Partylist explained through a Facebook post. Submerged in the flood are books, laptops, a graduation cap, and Lady Justice's balance scale, a poignant reminder of the country's thriving education crisis.

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PHOTO: Facebook/Kabataan Partylist.

They added, “The painting is a message of the youth's anger regarding our states of calamity, but it also challenges the youth to go beyond resiliency and to strike at the political roots of [the] worsening crisis.”

Cong. Renee’s ensemble calls the new generation to transform their grief into the strength that will carry them towards the fight to end systemic corruption. “The youth must rise above the aftermath of disaster, despite still being submerged in floodwaters of social crisis that has swept away basic rights such as education, food security, and other basic needs, and even fundamental principles like justice and accountability.”

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PHOTO: X/KabataanPL.

Kyla Villena loves a good lip gloss and a trip to the art gallery. She is Preview's beauty girl, who doubles as a self-proclaimed motivational speaker.