Senate Deputy Speaker Pia Cayetano at the red carpet.
/Inquirer photo
Sona 2017
Prominent guests arrived at the House of Representatives ahead of President Rodrigo Duterte’s second State of the Nation Address (Sona).
Vice President Leni Robredo, wearing a red ethnic dress, avoided once again the red carpet and went straight to the plenary hall.
Senators Francis Escudero and wife actress Heart Evangelista, Grace Poe and husband Neil Llamanzares, Sonny Angara and wife Tootsy, and Joel Villanueva and wife Gladys, and JV Ejercito and wife Hyacinth walked the red carpet a few hours before Duterte addresses the nation on Monday at 4 p.m.
Ilocos Gov. Imee Marcos, wearing a purple ethnic top, also attended the Sona despite being ordered detained over a P66 million purchase of government vehicles using funds for tobacco farmers.
Marcos said she is still unsure if she would attend Tuesday’s House probe on the alleged anomaly involving the provincial government’s tobacco funds, over which her six employees – the so-called “Ilocos Six” – were ordered detained at the lower House for contempt.
Actor and Duterte supporter Robin Padilla and his brother Rommel also went to Batasan to personally hear the President’s report.
Cabinet secretaries Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano, and Cayetano’s predecessor at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Perfecto Yasay were also present.
Panelo said Monday’s Sona is “historic in the sense that this is the first time we have (a) president who has accomplished so many things in a year.”
Former president and now Manila mayor Joseph Estrada at the red carpet also expressed support for Duterte, and for his declaration of martial law in Mindanao.
Maguindanao Governor Toto Mangudadatu and House Deputy Speaker and Maguindanao Representative Bai Sandra Sema came wearing a barong and dress made of the traditional Mindanao Inaul textile.
Marga Nograles, the wife of Davao city Rep. Karlo Nograles, said her attire was garnished with beads by the T’boli ethnolinguistic group in Mindanao.