Business attire will do for President-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).
Thus, said incoming House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez even as his fellow legislators prepare for what is expected to be a very different SONA once Duterte takes the podium at the House of Representatives (HOR).
“Business attire for members of the House during President Duterte’s SONA would suffice,” Davao del Norte Rep. Alvarez said in a text message Tuesday.
On the same day, the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) solon was quoted over Twitter as saying that the Civil Code actually “frowns on display of wealth in the midst of poverty”.
“Hindi ka naman kasi kailangan pumorma doon. Business attire is OK na. ’Yung parang pupunta ka sa opisina hindi party,” Alvarez said.
SONAs of decades past have always been a glitzy and glamorous affair; in fact, a traditional sidebar story for that day has been “who did he/she wear” – a reference to designer clothing and dresses.
But the 71-year-old Duterte isn’t exactly glitzy, glamorous or traditional. (Ellson A. Quismorio)