President Rodrigo Duterte, center, looks at a smartphone during a selfie after delivering his third State of the Nation Address at the House of Representatives in Quezon City. AP PHOTO/Aaron Favila
President Rodrigo Duterte had threatened to walk out of his own State of the Nation Address (Sona) at the height of the House of Representatives leadership row on Monday.
Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III revealed this on Tuesday, a day after former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo succeeded in ousting then Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.
Duterte’s Sona was delayed for more than an hour after Arroyo tried to take over the Speakership even before the President’s speech.
“I sensed displeasure with the President when that was happening. As soon as he arrived, he already uttered words that I don’t want to divulge. He was displeased with what’s happening. That is what I gathered from him,” Sotto said in an interview at the Senate.
Asked if it was true Duterte wanted to walkout during that time, the Senate leader said: “He gave a threat to that effect.”
“Mag wa-walk out na lang ako pag hindi nila inayos yan. Something to that effect,” Sotto quoted Duterte as saying.
But Sotto said House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas reminded the President of his constitutional mandate to deliver his Sona.
“Ang sagot ko sana e pag nag walk out kayo, susunod na yung Senate contingent,” Sotto said.
After Duterte’s address to the nation, the House again convened its session to formalize Arroyo’s election as the new Speaker. /muf