WITH just days to go before President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. delivers his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA), the House of Representatives on Monday declared that it is already “90 to 95 percent ready” to host the annual event at the Batasang Pambansa complex in Quezon City.
House spokesperson Atty. Princess Abante made the announcement during a press conference following the final interagency coordination meeting held earlier in the day to finalize preparations.
“From the discussions I heard earlier, siguro mga nasa 90 to 95 percent na tayo ready, leaving room for some adjustments,” Abante told reporters.
She said that “most of the preparations are already finalized.”
“Just some matters na lang na kailangan i-check. I think in a while the interagency delegation will have a walk-through in the House of Representatives. But other than that, we are all set,” she added.
Abante said the House is now in the final stretch of SONA preparations, with all agencies involved closely monitoring weather conditions and fine-tuning contingency plans.
Despite intermittent rains and prevailing weather systems in recent days, she clarified that these have not caused any disruption.
“Sa ngayon, tuluy-tuloy pa rin ‘yung preparations natin. Hindi naman siya naaantala. Of course, we will keep on monitoring ‘yung developments ng ating panahon sa mga susunod na araw. Pero as of today, tuluy-tuloy at wala namang disruption sa mga preparations,” she said.
Abante said contingency plans are being considered in case of severe weather, but there have been no talks of postponing the physical gathering.
She added that security preparations are finalized and will be similar to last year, with minor adjustments as needed.
“Of course, there will always be adjustments on various situations or concerns, but just the same, the security group is all prepared for next week’s SONA,” she said.
Abante also clarified that there are no specific security threats currently being monitored, though law enforcement remains vigilant.
“Sa ngayon, wala naman akong alam specifically na binabantayan. Of course, the Philippine National Police and the Presidential Security Command are always prepared for any security threat. But any specific, well, I have no information,” she said.
On the guest list, she said that while she does not have the exact numbers, attendance is expected to be similar to last year’s record turnout.
“Last year, I think that was one of the most attended SONA that we’ve had in recent history. If I remember, more than 1,500 last year ‘yung nag-confirm na um-attend. And we are expecting that the numbers will be similar to that,” she said.
Abante also encouraged the public to tune in to the President’s fourth SONA.
“We are looking forward for the President’s report to the country. And we are inviting everyone to stay tuned in the different media outlets and social media accounts so that all of us will hear what the President will report as to the developments of our country and what we will be expecting in the next coming months,” Abante said.
