President Rodrigo Duterte will be physically present at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City on July 27 to deliver his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA), Palace spokesman Harry Roque said Monday.
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Critics and protesters, however, were urged by Roque and Philippine National Police chief Gen. Archie Gamboa to conduct online protests as the government had prohibited large gatherings to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Gamboa said online protests on the President's fifth SONA—the penultimate during his six-year presidency—would accede to the health protocols being implemented with a guideline prohibiting mass gathering.
"I can confirm for the first time that the President will be physically present (at the Batasang Pambansa) when he delivers his fifth SONA. The rehearsal has been scheduled and preparations continue," Roque said in a televised press briefing.
Roque earlier said Duterte might deliver his SONA online from the Malago Clubhouse in Malacañang.
The Palace spokesman said at least 50 lawmakers would be allowed inside the venue but could not say how many Cabinet officials would be permitted to attend.
Gamboa himself told a virtual briefing: "To those who want to conduct protest, especially in (sic) SONA, we are pleading (with) you to do it online."
Freedom of expression and public health should be tightly balanced in this time of the pandemic, he added.
Gamboa said rallyists could air their grievances and share their opinion online, especially in social media which he said were popular today.
Throughout the past SONAs, the police did not curtail the right of the people to express their sentiments to the government as they had exercised maximum tolerance, Gamboa said.
"This is not an ordinary time (because of the pandemic),” he said.
Gamboa said it would be for the safety of everybody to just stay at home and prevent unnecessary travel and also mass gatherings.
“If the intention is just to express your opinion – the PNP has always allowed this – for this year, we are appealing to critics to avoid mass gathering and do it online,” he said.
Gamboa said that police commanders were planning to meet with organizers of the planned protest actions for the July 27 SONA to discourage them from holding rallies due to the threat of coronavirus infection.
"So we hope everybody would cooperate because this is not only for our own good but also for you and for others especially on the prohibition of mass gathering," he said.
Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Luis Licup, PNP director for Operations, said the National Capital Region Police Office had prepared some of the security measures based on the scenarios provided by the Presidential Management Staff.
“But we are also asking the commanders to initiate dialogues to avoid protest action because of the current situation,” Licup said.
He said the NCRPO had prepared a traffic and security plan in the vicinity of the House of the Representative.
Earlier, NCRPO Chief Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas said they developed a template they had been using in securing events such as the annual SONA of the President and other big events.
"So far, our preparations are ongoing, and we are waiting for the final scenario on where the President would deliver his speech," Sinas explained.
In areas under modified general community quarantine, the least restrictive of all quarantine classifications, 50 percent attendance of guests is permitted.
Meanwhile, with a record-high unemployment rate of 17.7 percent translating to 7.3 million unemployed persons based on the April 2020 labor force survey, Senator Joel Villanueva hopes Duterte’s SONA would tackle how the government intends to generate jobs for the millions of displaced workers.
He said the President’s SONA should serve as a guidepost for all agencies to create and implement policies that would lead to the restart of the economy, the smooth reintegration of OFWs to the domestic labor force, and provide green lanes for in-demand Filipino seafarers for the global supply chain.
Villanueva, chair of the Senate Committee on Labor, Employment, and Human Resource Development, said he shared the observation of Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III who sought the reopening of the economies in Metro Manila and Region 4A, explaining that about 2/3 of the country’s Gross Domestic Product was generated there.
The government should also ensure that repatriated OFWs who lost their jobs abroad are provided enough assistance to start anew, the lawmaker said.
According to Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, OFW remittances could drop by up to 40 percent or about $12 billion this year as a result of massive job losses overseas. In 2019, the central bank reported that OFW remittances reached US$30.13 billion.
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, for his part, said the SONA must present a 20/20 vision.
“Wherever it will be delivered, through whatever medium, the SONA 2020 must contain one thing: an inspiring 20/20 vision that will rally this nation to move as one,” said Recto.
He said the message of the SONA was more important than where the messenger would be.
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