MALACAÑANG is mulling over other options for President Duterte’s traditional State of the Nation Address (Sona), as both the Palace and Congress balance health concerns amid the Covid-19 pandemic with the legal requirements and traditions when the Chief Executive addresses a joint session of senators and congressmen at the Batasan complex.
When lawmakers reconvene plenary sessions on July 27, the options are to have the President deliver his Sona following traditions at the Batasan plenary hall, or deliver it before Congress leaders with Duterte at the Palace.
“All [options] mean live [coverage] in the area where it is held,” Senate President Vicente Sotto III said on Tuesday in an interview with radio DWIZ, pointing out that “all senators or at least 12 should be in attendance because we need a quorum.”
Sotto, however, voiced hopes they will go for the first option with the three leaders (President, Senate President and Speaker of the House) at the Batasan, where the Chief Executive traditionally delivers his annual Address.
The Senate President indicated they are still hoping “the Palace will go for the option where the three leaders—the President, Senate President and Speaker of the House—will be at the Batasan.”
Congress leaders, however, got signals the Palace may go for the option with the President doing the Sona “at the Palace.”
This, as President Duterte was reported to have gotten an 8.5 rating in his “war on drugs,” which Sotto, who once headed the anti-drug agency, credited to Malacañang’s ongoing war against illegal drugs.
Apart from that, Sotto also cited the administration’s drive to “uplift the people’s welfare with a firm hand, something rarely seen from the President,” noting that the communist insurgency was also seen to “lie low” under Duterte’s term.
Still, Sotto said “we must relieve ourselves of the pandemic problem, address transport issues and deal with peace and order more strictly.”
He added, in a mix of English and Filipino, that it would also be better if the Duterte government is to retain the General Community Quarantine in some areas, noting that “some think that the problem is over so they became careless and dispense with precautionary measures.”
“The lockdown was effective because people realized it is the responsibility of all and not just the government,” Sotto said, suggesting that “we need to share responsibility to get past the contagion.”