Recto expects 20/20 vision in Duterte's upcoming SONA

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto on Friday said the venue of the fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) is irrelevant compared to what President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to tell the Filipino people as the country wades through the COVID-19 situation.

"Wherever it will be delivered, through whatever medium, the SONA 2020 must contain one thing: an inspiring 20/20 vision that will rally this nation to move as one," Recto said in a statement.

"In the time of the pandemic, the SONA should dwell less on what has been done and more on what is to be done. Magsasaka man o millennial, ‘yan ang kanilang hahanapin sa mensahe ng Pangulo. Ang landas tungo sa kinabukasan, the path to victory over the virus," he added.

He stressed that the annual reporting of the President is not for the politicians inside the hall but for the people outside who entrusted their future to the government officials they elected.

Duterte's second to the last SONA will take place on July 27 in the middle of the gargantuan health crisis.

Malacañang confirmed that the venue will still be at the Batasang Pambansa but said it cannot ascertain yet whether the 75-year-old President will be physically present there. —LDF, GMA News