Duterte to present COVID-19 recovery roadmap during SONA 2020

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte will unveil the government’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) recovery roadmap during his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) next week, his spokesman said Wednesday.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte will discuss the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the government’s response “in much detail” during his penultimate SONA on Monday, July 27.

“I think the difference will be, he will be presenting now a roadmap for recovery, which actually, if you’ve noticed the economic team has not unveiled yet. And I think the reason is they want to unveil it in the SONA itself and in many fora after the SONA,” Roque said in an interview over CNN Philippines’ The Source.

Duterte will personally deliver his speech at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City with a limited number of Cabinet members and lawmakers joining him as the government continues to ban mass gathering to curtail the further spread of the respiratory disease.

The government has been heavily criticized for its handling of the health crisis where a total of 70,764 people have been infected nationwide. Meanwhile, 23,281 have recovered so far although 1,837 have died.