Vice President Sara Duterte (Facebook)

Vice President Sara Duterte leads the list of guests who have confirmed their attendance to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 24, 2023.

This was learned by House reporters from House Secretary General Reginald Velasco, who on Monday afternoon, July 17 led the conduct of a pre-SONA walk-through.

According to Velasco, "almost 90 percent" of the personalities who have been sent invitations to the big event have given affirmative responses.

"We have already sent all the invitations and we are of course waiting for the submission of the final guest list," said the House official.

President Marcos will deliver his SONA before a joint session of Congress at the House of Representatives in Batasan Complex.

Asked if Vice President Duterte has confirmed her attendance to the event, Velasco said, "Yes, yes".

As for former president Rodrigo Duterte, the Vice President's father, Velasco said, "Wala pa kaming confirmation kung makaka-attend siya (We still don't have confirmation if he will attend)."

Speaking of former presidents, Velasco said Joseph "Erap" Estrada has also confirmed his attendance for July 24.

House Deputy Speaker and Pampanga 2nd district Rep. Gloria Macapaga-Arroyo is another former chief executive who will be seen inside the House plenary on SONA day. And she will have the unique option of having two seats available to her.

But Velasco said Arroyo has already made her choice as to where she will sit.

"I think si President GMA will be seated dun sa VIP. Kasi pwede rin siya sa floor eh as an incumbent congresswoman (I think President GMA will be seated in the VIP section. Since she is an incumbent congresswoman, she can also sit among her colleagues on the plenary floor)," the secretary general explained.

"But we were informed na (that) she would prefer to be seated dun sa (in the) center," Velasco said.

The VIP seats in the House plenary hall are colored yellow this year.

Velasco earlier said that the attendees to this year's SONA could reach up to 2,000. Of the figure, 1,700 will be seated in plenary, while two "overflow rooms" with a combined capacity of 300 will also be set up.