'Hybrid' setup for SONA feasible, says Gatchalian

A non-conventional setup for President Rodrigo Duterte's next State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July could be mounted amid the COVID-19 situation in the country, according to Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Tuesday.

In an interview on ANC, Gatchalian said the current "hybrid" session and hearings in Congress could be adopted to ensure the safety of the 75-year-old Chief Executive.

"This will be definitely a feasible setup for the President, especially [as] the President is also at his advanced age and we need him to limit his movements also and to limit his interactions with people. So this is a feasible setup even for the SONA," the senator said.

Nonetheless, Gatchalian said the situation may still change in the next few weeks and plans could be made clearer by then.

"After May 15, we will be entering the GCQ (general community quarantine) hopefully. Hopefully, by that time also the situation will start to taper off and by SONA, we’ll have a more or less normalized condition for the SONA," he added.

On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said he thinks "business as usual" at the upcoming SONA would be impossible.

The SONA is a constitutional obligation, required by Article VII, Section 23 of the 1987 Constitution. The President of the Philippines delivers the annual SONA at the Session Hall of the House of Representatives in Batasang Pambansa Complex, Quezon City. —Dona Magsino/KG, GMA News