Facade of Malacañang Palace, taken on Jan. 30, 2001. PHOTO BY VAL HANDUMON/CONTRIBUTOR
President Rodrigo Duterte’s inaugural might be simpler and smaller than his predecessors but that doesn’t mean that it was easier to organize.
Ambassador Marciano Paynor, head of the Palace inaugural committee, told RTVM that while Duterte’s decision to hold his inauguration inside Rizal Hall in Malacañang meant that it was a smaller celebration, it was also a challenge to choose the guests.
Former presidents have held their oath-taking at Quirino Grandstand, which can accommodate thousands of people.
“Here the physical limitation of space is actually the difficulty. Because you have to de-list people,” Paynor said.
He said that while the hall can only accommodate 500 people, they had to allot enough seats for 630 people.
“We have hundreds more who feel they should have been invited as well,” he said.
Asked what he thought about Duterte’s inaugural, Paynor said that he expected the President to “reiterate” his pledge for the next six years.
He said he was also very hopeful “with the simple ceremonies,” especially with Duterte requesting that it would not disrupt work or create traffic.
As of 10 a.m., several buses carrying inaugural guests have entered the Malacañang grounds. A total of 17 buses were hired to bring them inside after they had breakfast at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC).
Changes were supposed to be made for President Benigno Aquino III’s departure honors because of the bad weather.
“We decided that we cannot risk the chance that it’s still raining hard and the troops are outside. So we decided to do it inside,” Paynor earlier said.
However, they decided to push through with the original plan after the rains stopped.
In the original schedule sent to media, Aquino was expected to arrive in Malacañang at 10:25 a.m., followed by Duterte five minutes later.
The two leaders were to meet for around 25 minutes before Aquino was given departure honors./rga