Duterte's SONA to be aired 'live,' 'unedited' —RTVM

President Rodrigo Duterte's fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday will be broadcast live and unedited, the Radio Television Malacañang (RTVM) said on Wednesday.

This was after concerns have been raised regarding the "editing out" of some parts of the President's taped speech, as seen in his recent address before soldiers in Sulu hitting oligarchs in the country.

"The event will be broadcasted live, streamed live on Facebook and Youtube," RTVM executive director Demic Pabalan said during the SONA coverage briefing of the House of Representatives with members of the media.

"Hindi edited, verbatim, kung ano ‘yung events na mangyayari, ilalabas ng RTVM," he added.

The Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) earlier announced that members of the media will not be allowed inside the Batasang Pambansa complex during Duterte's SONA as per the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Only the Presidential Broadcast Staff-RTVM will be allowed inside the House to cover the SONA, the PCOO said.

All broadcast-related requirements will be coursed through the RTVM, it added.

House Secretary General Jose Luis Montales said that although there may be concerns that the President's SONA might not be aired live or be edited, the decision to not allow members of the media, except for RTVM, inside the House complex still stands at the moment.

"I think so far that’s the decision and I see no reason for, at the moment, to reverse that decision. As Demic said, it will be broadcast live and it will be shown also in YouTube and Facebook so everyone can see naman," he said.

Duterte, in a speech aired earlier last week, boasted of dismantling the country's oligarchy without declaring martial law, pointing out that these oligarchs have been controlling the country's economy for years.

Although the President's speech about oligarchs came only days after the ABS-CBN franchise application was denied, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte was not referring to the Lopezes, who own ABS-CBN, but to tycoon Lucio Tan, the Ayalas, and Manuel V. Pangilinan.

However, an unedited audio clip of the chief executive's speech indicated that Duterte talked about ABS-CBN and the scuttled oligarchy after a rant against some business leaders, and these appear to have been edited out of the video posted on the website of the PCOO.

Despite the uncut audio showing that Duterte was talking about ABS-CBN, Roque maintained that the President’s statement was not about the Lopez family.—AOL, GMA News