President Duterte will be physically present at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City for his fifth State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) on July 27, Malacañang confirmed Monday.

In his presser a week before the SONA, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the President has confirmed his attendance in Congress.

"I can confirm for the first time that the President will be physically present in Batasan pagdating po ng SONA sa 27 ng buwan na ito (for his SONA on the 27th)," he said.

"He has confirmed that he will attend unless there are supervening events," he added.

"Naka-schedule po ang rehearsal at patuloy po ang preparasyon (Rehearsals have been scheduled and preparations are ongoing)."

According to Roque, 50 lawmakers will attend the SONA physically. He, however, was unsure if members of the Cabinet can join the event.

Malacañang has floated the idea of a blended SONA where the President will deliver his speech from Malacañang due to the threat of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Roque advised  Duterte's critics to hold their protests online instead of risking being infected by COVID-19.

"Puwede magprotesta online. Iwasan po muna natin ang pagtipon-tipon (They can hold their protests online. Let us avoid public gatherings for now)," he said.

"Malinaw, kasing linaw ng sinag ng araw, na ang pagtitipon-tipon po ay magreresulta sa mabilis na pagkalat ng sakit na ito (It's as bright as the sun that public gatherings will speed up the transmission of this disease)," he added.

Public gatherings in areas under the general community quarantine are limited to 10 persons based on the omnibus guidelines issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

According to Roque, the Quezon City government also has an ordinance against public gathering and that the police are mandated to enforce this ordinance.

Roque said the President's SONA will tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, its effects on the country, and how can the Philippines overcome the crisis.

"I think it will be obvious that he will be taking about COVID-19, impact on the country and steps take to deal with COVID-19 at tsaka kung paano tayo makakabangon sa aberya at sigalot na nagresulta dahil sa COVID (and how we can rise up from the mess that resulted from COVID-19)," he said.

The Palace official, however, urged the public to just wait for Duterte's SONA to find out the government's plans and the administration's priorities for the President's remaining two years in office.