Duterte to present COVID-19 recovery roadmap in 5th SONA —Palace

President Rodrigo Duterte will present the country’s COVID-19 recovery plan on July 27 when he delivers his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) before a joint session of Congress, Malacañang said Wednesday.

Duterte’s spokesperson Harry Roque said the President will summarize the effects of the pandemic, the responses of the government, and the “way forward.”

“I think there’s no other problem as big as COVID right now, and you can imagine that the upcoming State of the Nation Address will discuss this pandemic in much detail,” Roque told CNN Philippines in an interview.

“But I think the difference will be, he will be presenting now a roadmap for recovery, which actually, if you’ve noticed the economic team has not unveiled [it] yet. And I think the reason is they want to unveil it in the SONA itself and in many fora after the SONA.”

Duterte will physically deliver his penultimate SONA before a small group of lawmakers and Cabinet officials at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles added Duterte’s upcoming annual report to the nation is “more important now, more than ever.”

“Such a report is more important now, more than ever, as government works to chart a safe course for our country as it navigates through unfamiliar and uncertain times, as it works to recoup the gains we have made in the President’s first three and a half years,” Nograles said in a forum on Wednesday ahead of the SONA.

Bills seeking to fund the COVID-19 recovery program are pending in Congress. The Palace said the government could only afford a stimulus package worth P140 billion, which is similar to the Senate’s proposal.—AOL, GMA News