Duterte's delayed 3rd SONA is his shortest yet after he sticks to script

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday set a personal record by delivering his first State of the Nation Address that did not go over an hour.

Duterte holds the record for the longest first SONA, which he delivered in 2016. It lasted an hour and 32 minutes.

In 2017, Duterte vowed to keep his speech short. He ended up breaking from the official speech and adding spontaneous remarks. He talked for over two hours and invited outrage from his critics with the use of obscene language.

His 2018 speech lasted about 50 minutes and, like his first SONA, it did not contain profanities.

In place of profanitites overshadowing Duterte’s message, a confusing attempt to change House leadership became the hot topic before and after the SONA.

Duterte’s speech was delayed by more than hour following the proceedings that initially had Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo taking her oath as speaker, replacing Davao Del Norte Representative Pantaleon Alvarez. —NB, GMA News