Senate Secretary Atty. Renato Bantug Jr. assured the public that preparations for the opening of the 20th Congress and President Marcos' fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) are well underway, even as inclement weather poses potential challenges.

“Tuluy-tuloy naman ang aming preparasyon (Our preparations are ongoing),” Bantug said in an interview late Tuesday, July 22.

“Kaninang umaga, mga 11 am ako’y nakipag Zoom meeting sa mga opisyales at empleyado na kasama at bahagi rito sa preparasyon na ginagawa namin. Syempre may mga ibang bagay — like yung mga arrangement na physical at logistics na kailangang gawin on site, pero handa naman kami na gawin ito nitong weekend kung sakali man magpapatuloy pa itong sama ng panahon (Just this morning, around 11 a.m., I had a Zoom meeting with officials and employees involved in the preparations. Of course, there are physical and logistical arrangements that need to be done on-site, but we’re ready to handle those over the weekend if the bad weather continues),” he added.

Bantug outlined the key aspects of their preparations, including arrangements for the session flow and the reception of guests.

“Syempre inaasahan natin ang pagpunta ng mga ambassadors, ng ating mga Cabinet secretaries. Lahat naman yan pinaghahandaan namin taun-taon, ngayon nga lang merong kaunting challenge kasi nga hindi kami makapag meet in person, pero tuluy-tuloy naman ang aming paghahanda (We’re expecting ambassadors and Cabinet secretaries. These are things we prepare for every year. The only challenge now is we can’t meet in person, but our preparations continue),” he noted.

He said that despite the absence of face-to-face meetings due to the inclement weather, coordination has not been hampered.

“Tuluy-tuloy, either magzu-Zoom ulit kami, pero lahat naman kami nakikipag message sa isa’t isa, by text messages. Marami rin naman kasing kayang gawin remotely, hindi naman lahat kailangan ng pyhsical preparations (We’ll continue meeting, either via Zoom again, and we’re all communicating through text messages. Many tasks can be done remotely; not everything requires physical preparations),” Bantug said.

“Syempre yung isang contingency na kailangan namin paghandaan is kung magpatuloy yung ganitong klase ng panahon (A contingency we need to prepare for is if this kind of weather continues),” he explained.

“If it rains, we have to make certain adjustments—like where we can let guests disembark if there’s heavy rain. We’ve already handled ordinary situations in previous years; those are predictable and we’re familiar with them. But if the bad weather persists, we have to carefully prepare contingency measures,” he said in Filipino.

Asked about preparations for the looming impeachment trial, Bantug said they are taking things one step at a time.

“Sa impeachment trial siguro patapusin ko muna itong opening. Sabi nga nila, one at a time. Pero tuluy-tuloy din naman yan, habang nag mi-meeting kami ng sa opening session, naisisingit din naman namin ang mga kailangan naming paghandaan sa impeachment trial (For the impeachment trial, I’d like to finish the opening first. As they say, one step at a time. But yes, even as we’re meeting about the opening session, we’re also including discussions about what we need to prepare for the impeachment trial),” he said.

When asked if everything is ready, Bantug expressed confidence: “Oo, all set naman. Yun nga lang syempre kailangan araw araw o every now and then kailangan reviewhin, may kailangang repasuhin. But itong mga nakaraang araw, ang focus muna ay itong opening ng session at joint session ng Congress para sa SONA (Yes, we’re all set. But of course, every day or every now and then, we need to review and reassess. For the past days, our focus has been on the opening session and the joint session of Congress for the SONA).”