More attendees may be allowed in Duterte's last SONA —House sec-gen

President Rodrigo Duterte's last State of the Nation Address in July may have the same setup as last year but with more attendees, House Secretary General Mark Llandro Mendoza said Tuesday.

In a zoom interview with reporters, Mendoza said the Malacañang, the House of Representatives, and the Senate are coordinating regularly to tackle arrangements for the SONA, which will be on July 26.

He said 150-200 individuals may be allowed to attend the event although the final decision lies with Malacañang and the Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

“Ongoing ‘yung coordinated meeting natin with the Malacañang and the Senate, so far okay pa naman. Parang same as last year pa rin  naman ‘yung mangyayari pero baka madagdagan ‘yung attendees natin,” Mendoza said.

(Our coordination with Malacañang and the Senate is still ongoing. It could be the same as last year but we might allow more attendees.)

“Hopefully we’re looking at around both houses, siguro around 150 to 200 ang papasok sa plenary this year pero depende pa rin sa ano ng IATF and sa ano ng Malacañang. So far, ‘yun ang projection natin,” he added.

(Around 150-200 may be allowed entry to the plenary but this depends on the decision of the IATF and Malacañang. So far, that’s our projection.)

In 2020, the number of attendees for Duterte’s SONA were limited due to the health crisis.

Mendoza said attendees should undergo rapid testing and RT-PCR tests. He also said they may impose the rule that only fully-vaccinated individuals will be allowed to physically attend the event.

“We’re looking at that. By that time kasi karamihan naman, fully vaccinated na by that time. So we’re hoping na ‘yung mag-attend, ‘yung papasok sa plenary fully vaccinated,” he said.

(By that time, a lot of individuals would already be fully vaccinated. We are hoping that those who will attend are already fully vaccinated.)

Mendoza said they are still accounting how many lawmakers are already vaccinated against COVID-19. When it comes to the secretariat and other House employees, he said around 80% could already be fully-inoculated by July 26.

As of the moment, only government media will be allowed to cover Duterte’s SONA, Mendoza said.

Asked if there is already information on who will direct Duterte’s SONA, Mendoza said he has no information yet on the matter. For the past three years, filmmaker Joyce Bernal was tapped as director.  --KBK/RSJ, GMA News