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Duterte: 3rd SONA won’t exceed 35 minutes


President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday vowed to keep his third State of the Nation Address short.

Duterte's spokesperson, Harry Roque, said the President told the Cabinet in a meeting in Malacañang that his third SONA would not exceed 35 minutes.

"'I will read my SONA speech which should not be more than 35 minutes,'" Roque quoted Duterte as saying.

Known for his long and winding speeches in public events, Duterte's first SONA in 2016 ran for one hour and 32 minutes—the longest first SONA in history. The President's 2017 SONA was even longer, lasting two hours as he went off course and made several impromptu remarks.

He also held a press conference and addressed jeering protesters outside the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City after last year's speech.

Duterte will deliver his third report to the nation before a joint session of Congress on July 23 amid criticisms over his human rights record, policy on the South China Sea dispute, rising commodity prices, and stalled peace negotiations with the communist rebels.

He has since instructed the police to exercise "maximum tolerance" towards protesters.

Roque earlier said Duterte would speak "straight from the heart" and not talk about his administration's achievements, delegating it instead to Cabinet members during pre-SONA briefings that started last Friday. — BM, GMA News

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