MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte will unveil the country’s coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) recovery roadmap during his penultimate State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the Batasang Pambansa on Monday.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a virtual press conference that President Duterte will explain in detail the plans to help the country recover from the economic impact of the pandemic.
“As far as the speech of the President is concerned, sinabi ko na what will definitely be in the speech is a roadmap for recovery. But as far as the other details are concerned, I’d rather that the nation listen to the President on Monday,” Roque said.
“If you’ve noticed the economic team has not unveiled yet. I think the reason is they want to unveil it in the SONA itself and in many fora after the SONA,” the Palace spokesperson added.
Roque also said that the public could expect Duterte to summarize the effects of the COVID pandemic, as well as the responses of the government and the way forward and how the government will actually approach this problem.
Cabinet Secretary and Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease chair Karlo Nograles, for his part, said that it is important for the public to listen to Duterte’s fifth SONA.
“Malamang marami sa atin ay maninibago, kasama na dito si Presidente, pero hindi magbabago o mababawasan ang kahalagahan ng talumpating ito,” Nograles said in an interview.
“Ang pag-ulat ng estado sa ating bayan, at pagbalangkas ng mga hakbang na gagawin ng gobyerno para i-angat ang buhay ng bawat Pilipino,” he added./PN