Duterte to deliver SONA at Batasan

MANILA, Philippines, July 21 ------ President Duterte will go to the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City next week to deliver his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) and is expected to discuss measures to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). “I can confirm for the first time that the President will be physically present in Batasan during the SONA on the 27th of this month. The rehearsal has been scheduled and preparations are underway,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said at a press briefing yesterday.

Roque said the number of lawmakers who may attend the event would be limited to just 50 as the government implements safe distancing to contain SARS coronavirus-2, which causes COVID-19. He could not say whether Cabinet members would be allowed to accompany the President. “By theme, well, I think it will be obvious that he will be talking about COVID-19, impact on the country and steps taken to deal with COVID-19 and how we can recover from this problem caused by COVID,” Roque said. “Let’s just wait for the speech of the President because I’m sure that’s one of the things he will talk about – his priorities for the remaining two years in office,” he added.

Roque expressed confidence that the pandemic-battered economy would recover because of “sound fundamentals.” “Our economy was performing well before we were hit by COVID. Because our creditors continue to have confidence in us and the public continues to support us, we expect what we call a V-shaped recovery, the immediate rise of the economy after a sudden fall because of COVID,” Roque said. “We do not know when the vaccine or medicine will be developed. That’s why we decided to save lives... We also found ways to sustain our livelihood while protecting our health. That’s the new normal,” he added.

Sen. Joel Villanueva expressed hopes the SONA will tackle how the government intends to generate jobs for the millions of displaced workers, especially overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), as the country struggles to contain the spread of COVID-19. Villanueva, who chairs the Senate committee on labor and employment, cited the record-high unemployment rate of 17.7 percent translating to 7.3 million jobless persons based on the April 2020 labor force survey. President Duterte’s SONA should serve as a guidepost for all agencies to create and implement policies that would lead to the restart of the economy, smooth reintegration of OFWs to the domestic labor force, and provide green lanes for in-demand Filipino seafarers for the global supply chain, he said.

Roque also advised critics of the administration to hold online protests to prevent the spread of the virus. “My advice to the protesters, well, they are the ones criticizing the government, that the government is not doing enough to slow the spread of the disease. I think it’s clear... that gatherings can cause the spread of the disease. They can hold protests online,” he said. “Let us avoid gatherings otherwise the things we are saying every day about social distancing will go to waste.”

Source: philstar.com