This year’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 25 at the Batasang Pambansa Complex will be the first for President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who won a historic majority mandate during the May polls.
It will be the first SONA delivered at Batasan in a full face-to-face set-up since former President Rodrigo Duterte’s last pre-Covid-19 SONA in 2019.
Here are more quick facts about SONA 2022 that would keep you ahead in the any conversation:
– 1,365 people have been invited. These include all living former presidents of the Philippines.
– Director Paul Soriano will direct the SONA broadcast.
– The House of Representatives leadership just finished a P100-million renovation of Batasang Pambansa in time for the SONA and the start of the 19th Congress. A significant part of the cost went to renovating the plenary hall, which, among other things, has a new video and sound system.
– A choir from the Ilocos region will sing the national anthem.
– Marcos is expected to deliver his speech at around 4 p.m. before a joint session by the House and Senate at the plenary hall of Batasang Pambansa. There are 315 House members (congressmen) and 24 senators.
– “Simple cocktails” will be served to the guests after the speech.
– Mobile phone signal will be jammed a few hours before Marcos delivers his speech. This will be done as a security measure.
– Batasang Pambansa Complex in Quezon City will be a “no fly zone” on SONA day. This is another security measure.
– Individuals entering Batasang Pambansa Complex need to have a negative antigen test result, while individuals entering the plenary hall need to have a negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test result.
– An “ultraviolet germicidal irradiation system” has been installed in the plenary hall.
– Marcos said that he wants a “simple and traditional” SONA
– Vloggers will cover the event, alongside mainstream media.
