‘Duterte SONA powerful, patriotic’

President Rodrigo Duterte  (Photo by Jeoffrey Maitem/INQUIRER MINDANAO)

DAVAO CITY – A very powerful speech.

This was how Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar described the State of the Nation Address (SONA) that President Duterte will deliver on Monday afternoon.

“The address, personally written by the President, will be a very powerful speech that will awaken the patriotism in every Filipino,” Andanar said in a press conference here Sunday.

Andanar said the speech is so powerful that it brought tears to his eyes.

“I don’t want to exaggerate, but the first time I read the speech, it made me cry,” he said.

“It is that good, it is that touching,” he added.

Andanar said the President has already made some read through of the speech that “would probably last for 38 minutes.”

The running time of the speech, according to Andanar, does not include pauses for applause and “some adlib” by President Duterte.

Andanar said the President himself wrote the speech.

“It has been revised more than 10 times. And the president has always been involved in that,” he said.

But Andanar refused to divulge the contents of the speech, only saying that “there are policies, there are actions.”

The SONA will be in English, according to Andanar

“Pwera na lang sa ‘salamat po’ (Except the part where he says ‘Thank You’),” he said.  SFM

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