Duterte threatened to skip SONA in case of House standoff —Bong Go

President Rodrigo Duterte had threatened to skip his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 22 if the election of a new Speaker of the House of Representatives led to a standoff, Senator Bong Go said Thursday.

"Ang sinabi ng Pangulo, kung magkakaroon uli ng standoff tulad ng nakaraang isang taon, ay naghintay po ang ating Pangulo, medyo nagkagulo pa sa Kongreso, sabi niya, 'Hindi na lang po ako pupunta kung gano'n, kung hindi sila magkakaintindihan," said Go, Duterte's former special assistant, in an interview on Unang Balita.

Go was referring to the delay in last year's SONA when House members ousted then-Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and replaced him by then-Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

"Ibig sabihin, kung darating po siya sa SONA ay maayos na po ang lahat. at ganoon naman po ang lahat, maayos naman po," he said.

House members have elected Taguig Representative Alan Peter Cayetano, who was endorsed by Duterte, as Speaker. He will share the term with Marinduque Representative Lord Allan Velasco.

Go meanwhile gave the assurance that Duterte's relationship with his family remains strong even as Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and her brother, Davao City Representative Paolo Duterte, are both not in favor of the term-sharing deal between Cayetano and Velasco.

"Maayos naman po ang kanilang relasyon ni Mayor Sara [at] ni Congressman Pulong subalit malalaki na po ang mga 'to at may sarili na po itong pag-iisip at may mga sariling desisyon na po ang mga ito sa pulitika," Go said.

"Pero at the end of the day, pamilya po sila at nagkakaisa naman po sila. Iisa lang po ang kanilang layunin — magsilbi po ang mga Pilipino," he added. —Margaret Claire Layug/KBK, GMA News