BY ARGYLL GEDUCOS
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President Duterte is set to unveil the country’s recovery roadmap four months after the coronavirus pandemic battered the economy and put almost everything on hold during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, Malacañang announced.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made the statement days before the President delivers his fifth SONA at Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.
In an interview with CNN Philippines, Roque said that Duterte will talk about how the COVID-19 pandemic took its toll in the Philippines during his speech on Monday.
Duterte put Metro Manila and neighboring provinces under Enhanced Community Quarantine last March that stunted the economic growth as thousands lost jobs despite the country’s gallant fight to eradicate the virus.
So wicked and deadly the unseen enemy is that to date, the country has reported 70,764 cases, 1,837 of whom died while 23,281 recovered.
“The President will summarize the effects of COVID-19 pandemic as well as the responses of government and the way forward, how the government will actually approach this problem,” he said.
“I think there’s no other problem as big as COVID-19 right now. We can imagine that the upcoming State of the Nation Address will discuss this pandemic in much detail,” he added.
How the country will move forward from the pandemic will be discussed thoroughly by President Duterte, according to Roque.
