{"id":262747,"date":"2020-07-24T04:46:21","date_gmt":"2020-07-24T08:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=262747"},"modified":"2020-07-24T04:46:21","modified_gmt":"2020-07-24T08:46:21","slug":"plan-b-is-to-hold-dutertes-5th-sona-in-palace-andanar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/07\/24\/plan-b-is-to-hold-dutertes-5th-sona-in-palace-andanar\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Plan B\u2019 is to hold Duterte\u2019s 5th SONA in Palace: Andanar"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte holds a meeting to discuss the updates on the Marawi Rehabilitation efforts at the Malaca\u00f1an Palace. ALFRED FRIAS\/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar on Friday revealed there was an alternative plan to deliver President Rodrigo Duterte\u2019s fifth and penultimate State of the Nation Address (SONA) at Malaca\u00f1an Palace on July 27.<\/p>\n

Andanar said Duterte might deliver his SONA at Malaca\u00f1an in Manila instead of having it delivered at the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Quezon City, in case one of those invited to attend the annual event tests positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).<\/p>\n

\u201cKung meron mang positibo sa mga na<\/em>-swab\u00a0na panauhin ay magde-desisyon ang<\/em>\u00a0Office of the President,\u00a0kasama ang<\/em>\u00a0PSG (Presidential Security Group),\u00a0kung doon tayo sa<\/em>\u00a0Option B (If one of the guests tests positive [for Covid-19], the Office of the President and PSG will proceed with Option B) which will be done dito sa (at) Malaca\u00f1an,\u201d Andanar said in an interview with dzRH.<\/p>\n

Malaca\u00f1ang earlier announced that Duterte had decided to fulfill his constitutional mandate to deliver his fifth SONA on July 27 at the Batasang Pambansa.<\/p>\n

Under Article 7, Section 23 of the 1987 Constitution, the President is mandated to \u201caddress the Congress at the opening of its regular session\u201d since the SONA is considered as a constitutional obligation.<\/p>\n

While the plans for this year\u2019s SONA remain \u201cvery fluid\u201d due to Covid-19 pandemic, Andanar said Duterte\u2019s health cannot be compromised.<\/p>\n

Thus, the venue for Duterte\u2019s penultimate SONA will depend on the results of the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests of the attendees, Andanar said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBago po mangyari ang<\/em>\u00a0SONA\u00a0ay magkakaroon po ng<\/em>\u00a0swabbing\u00a0na mangyayari. At sa<\/em>\u00a0swabbing\u00a0nga na ito, diyan natin malalaman kung itutuloy ba \u2018yung sa<\/em>\u00a0lower house (Before SONA, guests will have to undergo swab tests. Results of the swab tests will determine whether the venue will be at lower house [or the Batasang Pambansa]),\u201d Andanar said.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte and his guests will undergo RT-PCR tests on July 26, a day before the annual SONA.<\/p>\n

Andanar, however, said the RT-PCR tests can also be done on July 27, or the day Duterte delivers his SONA.<\/p>\n

\u201cLahat kailangang i<\/em>-swab (All must undergo swab tests). It will be done on the day itself\u00a0kasi merong<\/em>\u00a0swabbing\u00a0na<\/em>\u00a0minutes\u00a0lang, malalaman mo na<\/em>\u00a0(because you will get the results of the swab tests in just a matter of minutes),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Andanar said a total of 50 seats are reserved for Cabinet members and lawmakers, if Duterte delivers his SONA at the Batasang Pambansa.<\/p>\n

In the event that the annual event is held at Malaca\u00f1an, the total number of guest would further be trimmed down, Andanar said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course,\u00a0nandiyan pa rin yung<\/em>\u00a0Senate President, Speaker of the House,\u00a0tapos ang<\/em>\u00a0Executive Secretary\u00a0at piling mga<\/em>\u00a0congressmen\u00a0at mga senador na lamang<\/em>\u00a0(If it is held at Malaca\u00f1an, only a few can attend. The Senate President, House Speaker, the Executive Secretary, and select congressmen and senators can only attend),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Malaca\u00f1ang has yet to confirm the attendance of Duterte\u2019s family to the annual SONA.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte said she will skip her father\u2019s fifth SONA to avoid strict health procedures.<\/p>\n

\u2018No regular\u2019 SONA<\/strong><\/p>\n

Andanar said Duterte\u2019s penultimate SONA is not ordinary since it will be delivered at the time the country is grappling with the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis concerns everybody, the entire country. This is no regular State of the Nation Address. This is one of the most important State of the Nation Addresses that we will have,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Andanar said the public can expect Duterte to touch on his promises to stop corruption in government, combat illegal drugs, and reduce poverty in the country.<\/p>\n

He added that Duterte would also talk about his government\u2019s plan to generate more jobs, revive the economy, foster education, and help distressed overseas Filipino workers amid the pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Yung sasabihin ni Presidente sa darating na<\/em>\u00a0State of the Nation Address\u00a0ay yung mga talagang piling-piling mahahalaga at yung mga gustong malaman ng ating mga kababayan<\/em>\u00a0(The President\u2019s SONA will focus on important matters that our fellow countrymen want to know),\u201d Andanar said.<\/p>\n

Andanar said Duterte would have a rehearsal either on Friday night or on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The PCOO chief could not say how long Duterte\u2019s fifth SONA will last since he has yet to read the speech.<\/p>\n

Duterte\u2019s first SONA lasted for 90 minutes while his second SONA lasted for 120 minutes.<\/p>\n

His third SONA lasted only for 48 minutes, while his fourth SONA lasted for 93 minutes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar on Friday revealed there was an alternative plan to deliver President …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":247402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-262747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-ruth-abbey-gita-carlos","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262747"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":262748,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262747\/revisions\/262748"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}