Aquino sends ‘regrets’ to Duterte SONA
FORMER president Benigno Aquino 3rd will not attend the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of his successor, President Rodrigo Duterte, for the third straight year, the House of Representatives said on Monday.
“[Former] president Aquino already sent regrets,” the House said through its Inter-Parliamentary Relations and Special Affairs Bureau.
The same unit confirmed the attendance of Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo; former presidents Fidel Ramos and Joseph Ejercito-Estrada; former Senate Presidents Juan Ponce Enrile, Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. and Manuel “Manny” Villar, Jr. and former Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr.
Robredo said that she would attend the SONA because it was one of her obligations as a sitting vice president.
Three weeks before the SONA, the President called Robredo incompetent, but Robredo countered by saying that the President should work on solving the country’s problems rather than throwing insults at her.
Duterte’s third SONA was expected to draw at least 1,500 guests at the Batasang Pambansa Complex. LLANESCA T. PANTI
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