Exactly 25 days after being inaugurated as the Philippine 17th chief executive, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. will deliver his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 25.
He will deliver a speech he wrote on his own, his executive secretary said.
Although nothing much has been revealed, the President is expected to heavily focus on economic plans as the country moves forward from the Covid-19 pandemic and copes with surging prices of commodities, including oil, and the impending food supply crisis.
Marcos has been working on his speech in the weekend before his maiden SONA. Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez said they even freed up the President's schedule from Friday, July 22, to give him ample time to work on his speech.
According to Rodriguez, Marcos' SONA will be delivered "much like how he delivered his inaugural speech." It is going to be a mix of both English and Filipino.
Asked on Friday if the President has rehearsed his speech, Rodriguez said he has yet to rehearse it as it was still a "moving draft."
However, unlike his inaugural speech, Marcos' SONA message is expected to be more detailed, containing inputs from his Cabinet members.
His public address will center on the outcome of the three Cabinet meetings he presided over in the past weeks, Rodriguez said.
“It’s all about our economy, the economic plans, the face-to-face opening of this coming school year. It’s all about Covid response and when we say Covid response, it goes all the way to the entire cycle of economy, not just health. You go into economy, you go into education, and so on,” the executive secretary said.
“Very much related is, of course, yung (is the) digitalization. Not just with respect to the education of the students, but also with the way things are being run in terms of governance. He wants to see a digitalized governance and digitalized PBBM administration,” he added.
Marcos is also expected to lay out his plans at least in the first year of his administration, Rodriguez further said.
A week ago, Marcos invited the public to listen to his first SONA.
"Samahan niyo po ako at pakinggan ang estado ng ating bansa at ang mga plano at mithiin natin bilang isang sambayanan para sa mga susunod na taon (Join me and listen as I talk about the state of the country and our plans and aspirations as nation in the coming years)," he said in a Facebook post.
Marcos will deliver his SONA at the Batasang Pambansa on the same day the 19th Congress will formally open session.
READ MORE: Marcos working on SONA; message to focus on economic plans, education, food crisis