Communications Secretary Martin Andanar. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / JOAN BONDOC
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte’s fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday afternoon will not go beyond an hour and 20 minutes, according to Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar.
“I think the SONA won’t go beyond 1 hour and 20 minutes. But it’s the President’s prerogative to do adlibs if he wishes,” Andanar said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel.
He added that Duterte rehearsed for his penultimate SONA for the second time on Sunday night.
Duterte is expected to personally deliver his penultimate SONA around 4:00 p.m. at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City, the traditional venue for the constitutionally mandated SONA.
But due to the ongoing coronvirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis, Duterte’s penultimate SONA will be a “non-traditional” one with only selected Cabinet members and lawmakers allowed to physically attend the event— in contrast to the usually jam-packed audience highlighted by government officials and their spouses’ red carpet walk.
Even members of the media are not allowed inside the plenary hall and may only connect through the broadcast feed of state-run Radio Television – Malacañang.
According to Duterte’s spokesman Harry Roque, the President will unveil the government’s COVID-19 recovery roadmap and will discuss the health crisis “in much detail” during his SONA.
To date, there are 80,448 confirmed cases of COVID-19 nationwide, including 26,110 recoveries and 1,932 deaths.