Palace: Duterte to deliver ‘straight from the heart’ SONA

In a press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said Duterte will have more “latitude” to say what he wants as different clusters of his Cabinet will be conducting their own pre-SONA briefings to report the administration’s accomplishments in the previous year. (Photo: Presidential Communications (Government of the Philippines)/Facebook)

President Rodrigo Duterte will be delivering a heartfelt message to Filipino people in his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 23, according to Malacañang on Thursday, June 5.

In a press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said Duterte will have more “latitude” to say what he wants as different clusters of his Cabinet will be conducting their own pre-SONA briefings to report the administration’s accomplishments in the previous year.

“I think there is still a speechwriter but I think they want it to be a message straight from the heart of the President, not hindered with the need to report on the different achievements,” Roque said.

The month-long pre-SONA 2018 campaign called “Tatak ng Pagbabago” will be held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City. The first briefing entitled “Tatak ng Pag-unlad,” which will feature the economic and infrastructure cluster, will be held on July 6, Friday.

The spokesman told reporters that he has no idea on what will be the content of the speech as he has not yet met with the speechwriter.

“I know who’s writing the speeches, the speech but I haven’t actually sat down with them. So sabi ko (I said), I need to sit down with you people and find out what exactly you’ll put in the speech because obviously, a major change is that there’s now a pre-SONA briefing by different clusters,” the Palace official said.

“So, intrigued na intrigued na tayong lahat kung ano ang sasabihin ng Pangulo (We are all intrigued with what the President will say),” he added.

The 73-year-old President is known to deliver lengthy speeches as he strayed away from the speech prepared for him. His first SONA lasted for about an hour and a half, while his second SONA took two hours to deliver.

Bernal as a new director

Moreover, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, also on Thursday, said Joyce Bernal will be the new director of Duterte’s forthcoming SONA.

She will be taking the place of award-winning Brillante Mendoza, who directed the first two SONAs. Mendoza earlier drew mixed reactions from the public for his unusual use of camera angles during the President’s speech.

Bernal, a renowned filmmaker, is known for directing comedy-drama films such as “Kimmi Dora series,” “The Super Prental Guardians,” “Bakit Hindi ka Crush ng Crush Mo?,” “Da Possessed,” and “My Big Bossing’s adventures.”

In 2013, Bernal won Best Director award in the Metro Manila Film Festival for her film “10,000 Hours.”