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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Duterte's SONA must spell out plans for 'defeating' COVID-19', senators say

'Duterte's SONA must spell out plans for 'defeating' COVID-19', senators say

Published Jul 17, 2020 03:29 pm

Senate leaders said they are hoping to hear from President Duterte's forthcoming State of the Nation Address (SONA) his plans for the country's "victory" against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Duterte's fifth SONA will be on delivered on July 27, on the day that the 18th Congress will open its second regular session.

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto pointed out on Friday, July 17, that Duterte's message to the nation is "more important" than the venue of his annual address.

"The principal audience of the SONA are not the politicians inside the hall but the people outside. It is not for the consumption of the people who may clap in the President’s presence, but for the sovereign (people), (to whom) the SONA through the ages tries to answer the one question on their minds: Have our lives gotten better?"

"In the time of the pandemic, the SONA should dwell less on what has been done and more on what is to be done. Magsasaka man o millennial, ‘yan ang kanilang hahanapin sa mensahe ng Pangulo, ang landas tungo sa kinabukasan (Farmers or millenial, what they will look for in the President's message, the path to our future). The path to victory over the virus," he said in a statement.

He added that the President's 2020 SONA should present his "20/20 vision that will rally this nation to move as one."

In an online interview on Thursday, Sotto also said that he looks forward to Duterte's COVID-19 recovery plans.

"I would like to find out the exact state of our nation, that is the purpose of the SONA. More particularly on the issue of the pandemic, 'yon ang magandang makita natin (that what should see)…Figures from the President and then what has transpired and how government spent and what would be the proposal for the next few months even with the pandemic," he told reporters.

Sotto had said that Duterte has initially decided to personally deliver his SONA in the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City before a limited number of lawmakers. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said, on the other hand, that while the venue has been confirmed, there is no decision yet if the President will be in the Batasan complex.

Sotto said the President, anyway, is not "technically" mandated to be physically present when delivering his SONA before Congress.

He recalled that former President Elpidio Quirino, in January 1950, delivered his SONA via radio broadcast from the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

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