PRESIDENT Duterte will physically deliver his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) before some members of Congress at the House of Representatives on Monday, July 27, according to presidential spokesman Harry Roque.
Roque said rehearsals for the event are being scheduled and preparations ongoing.
“I can confirm… that the President will be physically present in Batasan come SONA day on the 27th of this month,” Roque said.
He said the President is expected to talk about the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) situation in the country and the government’s response, the recovery phase especially the economy aspect, and the priorities of the administration in its last two years in office.
Roque said the event would be open to 50 people, mostly lawmakers, but he is hoping that some members of the Cabinet would also be able to attend.
Over the weekend, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said among the scenarios being prepared by the government in the event the President would decide to physically deliver his SONA at the House is to limit the number of guests.
Last Thursday, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Duterte has decided to deliver his SONA at the Batasan Pambansa.
To ensure that health protocols are followed, Sotto said security and health officials have agreed to limit the number of those who will attend the event to only 50, made up of 25 from the executive department, 13 congressmen, and 12 senators. All will be subjected to rapid test before they are allowed entry to the Batasan and will be required to wear face masks.
No private media would be allowed inside and would instead be asked to hook up through the Radio, Television Malacanang (RTVM). The speech would be aired over the government network PTV4 and the social media accounts of the Presidential Communications Operations Office and RTVM.
Roque reminded everyone that the current arrangement is due to the current pandemic.
He advised those who would hold protest actions during the SONA to consider doing it online to avoid contributing to the spread of the coronavirus.
“The advice to protesters, well, they are the ones criticizing government, they are the ones claiming that government is not doing enough to slow down the spread of the disease. I think it is clear, as clear as the rays of the sun, this gathering would contribute to the spread of the disease. They can still protest online,” he said.
PNP chief Archie Gamboa appealed to militant groups to air their sentiments against the SONA online rather than march on the streets due to the threat of the coronavirus.
Gamboa, in a virtual press conference, said while they understand the militant groups’ right to express themselves, now is not the best time to that on the streets.
“For those who plan to do street protests especially during SONA day, we are appealing to them to just do it online because these are not ordinary times,” Gamboa said.
“You have all seen that in past SONAs, the government allows these protests but now we have a specific situation and that is the pandemic. So, we hope everybody would cooperate because it’s not only for our own good but also for you and for others especially that we have prohibitions on mass gathering,” he added.
Gamboa issued the same appeal to supporters of ABS-CBN Corp. who have been holding regular street actions to protest the non-renewal of the network’s franchise.
He said he has directed Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Licup, the Directorate for Operations chief, to instruct local police commanders to hold dialogues with militant groups to convince them to air their sentiments online.
“Social media can be of big help to them. They can always air and probably people will listen to them through social media because we are trying to avoid mass gatherings,” Gamboa said.
Licup said the National Capital Region Police Office has conducted a walk-through inspection of various areas in the event that militant groups push through with street protests.
He added security measures have been laid out within the Batasan Pambansa while traffic plans at the vicinity were also ironed out.
Licup said they have a final conference on security preparations this Wednesday while ground commanders will be briefed on the security plans this Thursday. — With Raymond Africa
