Rodriguez: Marcos writing own SONA, will talk about economy, COVID response, education

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. is writing his own speech for his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 25, Executive Secretary Victor Rodriguez said Friday.

Rodriguez told reporters that Marcos is devoting his weekend and the morning of July 25 to finish his speech.

"He's the one writing his SONA message. And he will be very busy. Yesterday we tried to relax his schedule so he can write. But ang dami pa ring mga trabaho," Rodriguez said.

"This morning, we have just, the two ambassadors of Thailand and the ambassador of United States presented their credentials to him this morning. But this afternoon, he has devoted it until the weekend, until morning of Monday, to finalize his SONA message," he added.

Asked how many pages the President's speech will be, Rodriguez said, "It is a work in progress."

"It's a moving thing, it's too premature to say right now," he said.

To give a glimpse of what Marcos' SONA would be, Rodriguez said this would be about his plans for economic recovery, resumption of face-to-face classes, and the administration's COVID-19 response.

"It’s all about our economy, the economic plans. With the face-to-face opening of this coming school year, it’s all about COVID response, and when we speak of COVID response, it’s not only about health, it goes all the way to the entire cycle of economy, not just health, the economy, you go into education, and so on and so forth," he said.

Rodriguez added that Marcos would also talk about the digitalization of the government.

Marcos will deliver his first SONA on July 25, with senators expecting him to discuss his specific plans on the country's recovery from the pandemic.

Over 21,000 security forces will be deployed to secure Marcos' first SONA.

The deployment is composed of 16,964 from the National Capital Region Police Office, 1,905 from PNP support units, and 2,974 from coordinating agencies and other peacekeeping partners. —KBK, GMA News