Duterte repeats for SONA 2018 on July 22

TIME FOR PRACTICE. President Rodrigo Duterte will repeat for his 3rd SONA this Sunday, July 22nd. Photo of Malacañang

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte will travel Sunday, July 22 to rehearsals for his third speech on the state of the nation (SONA) after Monday, July 23.

"The rehearsals of the president for SONA will take place Sunday," reads a message from presidential spokesman Harry Roque in the Philippines, Wednesday, July 18. (READ OUT: 10 things to expect at Duterte's SONA 2018)

The rehearsal will take place in Malacañang and not in Davao City, where he practiced for SONA in 2017.

The Duterte rehearsal will consist of to read a draft of his speech, possibly with a teleprompter, although in practice last year no teleprompter was used. In the past, Duterte had been helped by officials from the Office of Presidential Communication Operations, like Secretary Martin Andanar.

As for his first two SONA, the under-secretary of the Palace, Melchor Quitain, former administrator of the town of Duterte C, was the mayor of Davao City

Quitain had written a lot of Duterte's speeches when he was still a local chief of government.

Some contributions from other departments and agencies should be added to the speech. But Roque has already announced that, unlike the previous one, the list of achievements by department to read by Duterte will not be as long.

Instead, the written discourse will primarily convey Duterte's feelings and personal messages to Congress and the Filipino public.

The President, however, is required to make long spontaneous remarks during his SONA, despite a prepared speech.

He promised to read his speech in its entirety and keep it in 35 minutes. [19659006] In 2017, during his rehearsal of SONA, he wanted his written speech not to exceed 40 to 50 minutes. His current SONA extended to two hours because of his impromptu remarks. – Rappler.com