The camp of Vice President Leni Robredo could not help but ask if President Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) was really intended to tackle the country’s recovery plan from the coronavirus pandemic.
Vice Presidential spokesman and lawyer Barry Gutierrez said it seemed Duterte’s SONA had been written before the COVID-19 crisis took place.
Robredo’s spokesman pointed out some parts of Duterte’s speech would not be helpful on responding to the current health crisis.
“Pre-lockdown economic projections, laws passed 2 years ago, and DRUGS AGAIN? That's really what he's giving us? Parang walang pandemic ah,” he tweeted with a hashtag #SOanoNA.
Duterte delivered his fifth SONA on Monday before a limited audience of 50 Congress and Cabinet officials at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.
In his address, Duterte laid down the government measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 such as the continuation of the social amelioration program and intensifying assistance to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Critics, however, were dissatisfied with his SONA for his failure to go into detail on a pandemic recovery roadmap for the country which had been earlier promised by Malacanang.
Robredo wanted to hear Duterte’s plan in addressing the COVID-19 outbreak as the country’s daily cases keep on rising. She also expected a complete report about it from the President in his SONA.