President Rodrigo Duterte will deliver and finish his State-of-the-Nation Address on July 23 in 35 minutes, officials said Tuesday.
Duterte is known for deviating from prepared speeches, but Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said he had promised to read a prepared statement during his third Sona at the House of Representatives.
“The President said he will read his speech, and that it will not last for more than 35 minutes,” Roque told reporters in Indang, Cavite.
He said Duterte met with the head of his economic cluster to discuss the achievements of the different departments.
Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said Duterte’s speech could be 30 minutes long.
Duterte’s Sona last year included jokes and impromptu remarks and lasted for 120 minutes. It was 12,527 words long, the longest Sona delivered after the 1986 Edsa Revolution.