Robredo to attend SONA virtually; expects Duterte to tackle virus recovery plan

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo will be attending this year’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) through videoconferencing, saying she was not invited to physically attend the annual event at the House of Representatives.

During her weekly radio program, Robredo said that she had cleared her schedule for President Rodrigo Duterte’s penultimate SONA and will be attending virtually.

“Hindi ako imbitado sa House of Representatives… Iyong na-receive namin na invitation ay Zoom, so iyon iyong pupuntahan ko,” Robredo said in her weekly radio program.

(I was not invited at the House of Representatives… The invitation we received is for the Zoom videoconference, so that’s how I will attend.)

“Ako naman, lahat na invitation, basta obligasyon pinupuntahan natin, except lang kung may conflict. Ito namang SONA, talagang kinlear natin iyong schedule para dito, so dahil hindi naman ako imbitado physically na pumunta doon, sa Zoom mag-aattend ako kasi obligasyon natin ito,” she added.

(For me, we cater to all invitations especially when they are our obligation and there is no conflict. For SONA, we cleared our schedule for this, so since I was not invited to physically go to the House, I will attend through Zoom.)

Robredo said she is expecting Duterte to lay out the government’s recovery plan for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic that the country continues to struggle with.

Aside from this, Robredo said she is also expecting the President to report on what has happened over the last year.

“Kasi ganoon naman iyong SONA, ire-report mo iyong nakaraan, ihahayag mo iyong para sa susunod na taon. Iyong expectation natin, siguro parating may basis iyong dating SONA: Ano ba iyong mga pangako noon? Nagawa ba? Hindi nagawa? Kung hindi nagawa, ano iyong dahilan?” Robredo said.

(That’s how SONA works, you report about the past and lay down the following year. Our expectation, maybe it’s the same as previous SONA: What are the promises back then? Were they accomplished? If they weren’t done, what is the reason?)

Robredo cited a projection of a University of the Philippines study that COVID-19 cases in the country might reach 130,000 by the end of August.

The rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country, Robredo said, is alarming.

“Medyo nakakabahala siya kasi siguradong may ginagawa tayong hindi tama. Kasi kung tama iyong ginagawa natin, hindi sana ganito kataas,” Robredo said.

(This is alarming because for sure we are not doing something right. Because if we are doing the right thing, cases should not be this high.)

“Kapag tiningnan natin, iyong mga kapitbahay natin na ibang bansa ay bumabalik na sa normal. Tayo ay sinusubukan natin bumalik sa normal, pero hanggang tumataas iyong kaso, mahihirapan tayong bumalik,” she added.

(If we look at it, our neighboring countries are returning to normal. For us, we are just trying to go back to normal but until cases are still rising, we will have a hard time returning to normal.)

As of July 26, there are 80,448 COVID-19 cases in the country, with recoveries at 26,110 and death toll at 1,932.