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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Popular triumvirate of Marcos, Martin, Migz to draw bigger crowd at SONA 2023--House official

Popular triumvirate of Marcos, Martin, Migz to draw bigger crowd at SONA 2023--House official

Published Jul 4, 2023 11:20 am
Clockwise: Senate President Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri. House Speaker Martin Romualdez, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. (Speaker's office)



The sheer popularity of President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and the top two leaders of Congress will result to a fully-packed House plenary come the day of the next State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 24, 2023. House Secretary General Reginald Velasco made this prediction Tuesday, July 4, following the 1st Inter-Agency Coordination Meeting for SONA 2023. In a chance interview after the meeting, Velasco was asked how many guests were expected to attend the SONA this year. "Well we have a seating capacity of 1,700 to 2,000 [in the plenary], so we will have more than that," he answered. "We will have contingency plans in case we will have more guests than usual, because we expect more guests than the previous SONA," underscored the House official. "Not only because of the interest of the people, but we're back to normal eh. Then, we have a very popular President, very popular Speaker and Senate President. So most of our traditional guests would like to come, and others," Velasco said. Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez leads the House of Representatives in his capacity as Speaker. Meanwhile, the other legislative chamber in the country, the Senate, is headed by Senate President Juan Miguel "Migz" Zubiri. Romualdez, Zubiri, and Marcos have all posted good--if not impressive--satisfaction and trust survey numbers during their first year in office.

A total of 1,365 people were invited to attend President Marcos' first SONA on July 25, 2022. This was the first SONA to be held in full face-to-face set-up since the Covid-19 pandemic began. Last May 29, Velasco told House reporters that more people are expected to physically attend the President's annual speech this year. He reiterated this Tuesday, "We have received requests from all sectors no: business, Cabinet departments, even former congressmen. They all want to attend and  they want to bring their mayors and governors. So we expect a bigger crowd than last year," he explained, The SONA will be held at House plenary hall in Batasan Complex in Quezon City during a joint session of the House and Senate. Batasan is the turf of the House members or congressmen. Asked if he thinks the plenary would be fully packed this year,  Velasco said, "Oh yes."

Related Tags

Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr. Senate President Juan Miguel F.  Zubiri House of Representatives Martin Romualdez State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA)
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