President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. made last minute preparations for his third State of the Nation Address (SONA), rehearsing and fine-tuning his speech at Malacañan Palace in Manila less than 24 hours before his annual report.
The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) released photos of Marcos on Sunday while practicing and finalizing his SONA speech, which he is set to deliver at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon before a joint session of the 19th Congress at around 4 p.m. on Monday.
The Chief Executive is expected to outline his administration's visions, policies and key priorities for advancing the nation.
In a media interview Friday, Marcos said he was done writing his speech and would use the weekend to “fine-tune” and rehearse.
“‘Yung kabuuhan nung speech ko tapos na. Fine-tuning na lang mga ginagawa namin, aayusin namin ‘yan lahat bukas at saka hanggang Linggo para maging handa para sa SONA sa Lunes (The speech itself is already done. We’re just doing some fine-tuning. And we’re going to do all of that tomorrow (Saturday) until Sunday so we’re ready for the SONA on Monday,” Marcos told reporters.
The President said he was having a hard time squeezing in all important issues in his speech.
"So, ang problema marami -- napakarami ang gusto kong pag-usapan, baka humaba masyado (So, the problem is I want to tackle so many issues, but it may take a longer time),” Marcos said.
“Kaya hinahanapan namin [ng paraan] -- i-prioritize na lang lahat. Tapos, pwede makapag-explain ang ating mga secretary doon sa mga detalye ng mga iba (We’ll just tackle the priorities and then the (department) secretaries might be the ones to explain the details,” he added.
Last year’s SONA lasted one hour and 11 minutes.
Meanwhile, his first SONA on July 25, 2022 was three minutes longer.
In a separate message Sunday, the PCO said the President’s Barong Tagalog was a collaborative work of artisans from Lucban, Quezon; Taal, Batangas; and Aklan. (PNA)
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