It still won't be the usual traditional State of the Nation Address (SONA) this year.

The evolving coronavirus pandemic continued to influence preparations for President Duterte's sixth and final address before the two houses of Congress on July 26.

The President will return to the Batasan Pambansa to deliver his last SONA to showcase his past accomplishments and plans in his final year in office but with stringent health regulations, including a preference for fully vaccinated guests, according to Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar.

This will be the second time the President will give a SONA during a pandemic that affected lives and livelihoods of Filipinos and weakened economic development.

"As we prioritize the safety and security of President Duterte and the audience that will attend this year’s SONA in person at the Batasang Pambansa, stringent health protocols will be enforced," Andanar said in response to the Manila Bulletin's queries on the SONA preparations.

"Preference will be given to fully-vaccinated attendees. However, submission of a negative RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) test result will still be a requirement," he added.

Presidential Security Group (PSG) commander Jesus Durante III earlier disclosed they were studying requiring SONA guests to get vaccinated as a health precaution.

READ: PSG mulls allowing only fully vaccinated guests in Duterte's last SONA

Just like last year, journalists from private entities will still be barred from covering the President's SONA inside Batasan. Government media entities are the only ones authorized to cover the event at the congressional premises.

"Only RTVM and PTV will be allowed inside for coverage while other broadcast networks can hook up to their feed," said Andanar, a broadcast journalist before joining the administration in 2016.

Last year, the President delivered his fifth SONA in person at the Batasan Pambansa but other traditional practices were put aside due to the virus threat.

Only a few Cabinet members and lawmakers were invited to the annual political event. They had to test negative for coronavirus before being allowed to enter the session hall.

Only government media entities were permitted to cover the event inside Batasan. They shared the broadcast feed to the private media companies instead.