DURING the Duterte administration, the annual State of the Nation Address will no longer be a fashion show with lawmakers sashaying into the session hall in expensive designer gowns in the hope of catching media attention.
According to designated labor secretary and incumbent 1-BAP Rep. Silvestre Bello III, change will come to the SONA once Duterte assumes office as the country’s 16th president on June 30.
One of Duterte’s first official duties after June 30 is to deliver his first State of the Nation Address at the joint opening session of the 17th Congress of the Philippines at the Batasang Pambansa on July 25.
“[But] the SONA fashion show will be a thing of the past under the Duterte administration,” said Bello, a longtime friend of the incumbent Davao City mayor whom he described as never having been a fan of designer clothing, shoes or wrist watches.
In fact, Bello said Duterte favors checkered shirts—which sometimes appear to be wrinkled—denim pants and boots.
“[And] those aren’t Ferragamo,” Bello said, advising lawmakers to follow Duterte’s simplicity and modesty if they want to get the president’s attention.
“They should take it as a signal. They should not outshine the principal. They will get embarrassed,” Bello stressed.
Bello said he wouldn’t be surprised if Duterte delivers his first SONA in barong Tagalog, denim pants and boots.”
“That’s how Duterte dressed during his short stint at the House of Representatives years ago,” Bello said, referring to Duterte’s one-term stint as Davao City congressman from 1998 to 2001.