Monsoon rains to dampen Duterte's final SONA — PAGASA
MANILA, Philippines — PAGASA on Sunday said the southwest monsoon or habagat would prevail in the country during President Rodrigo Duterte's final State of the Nation Address tomorrow, and for almost the entire week.
In a special outlook, forecasters said the habagat would be the "dominant weather system in the next five days."
Flooding has hit various cities and provinces throughout the country last week, with thousands currently on evacuation sites.
Three people have also died from monsoon rains, per local disaster response officials.
PAGASA said the western section of Luzon, including Metro Manila, will see cloudy skies and scattered light to moderate with at times heavy rains on Monday.
No tropical cyclone is expected, however.
"Moderate to strong southwesterly winds will prevail and Manila Bay will be moderate to rough," said Vicente Palcon Jr., PAGASA's officer in charge in its weather division.
Protesters traditionally mark SONAs with demonstrations. But the Philippine National Police has since urged them to consider holding their mass actions online.
Police Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, PNP chief, said he has instructed cops to observe maximum tolerance in dealing with groups who would hold protests during Duterte's final report to the nation.
Follow this thread for updates on the preparations for and the delivery of President Rodrigo Duterte's State of the Nation Address.
Photo: RTVM screengrab from SONA 2020
President Rodrigo Duterte's State of the Nation Address was a confirmation that killing is a government policy, rights group Karapatan says.
"Duterte knows the day of reckoning is coming for him with the International Criminal Court Office of the Prosecutor’s request to investigate him for his crimes against the Filipino people. He may brag and pretend not to care, but his quip to 'add another' dead body amid the calls for accountability is an insidious — and serious — threat," the group also says.
President Duterte says the Delta variant of the COVID-19 is "far more aggressive and dangerous."
Duterte hopes the variant will not spread any further but if something wrong happens, "it will be just like what happened in the early days."
President Duterte claims his government launched the most extensive amelioration program in history with the passage of Bayanihan 1 and Bayanihan 2.
President Duterte talks about the pandemic response, joking that he may have the deadly virus that killed 27,000 Filipinos.
Earlier he told everyone to pray to God to solve the pandemic, which has left thousands of Filipinos out of work.
President Duterte revisits the issue with Metro Manila water providers, now Razon-led Manila Water Company Inc. and Pangilinan-led Maynilad Water Services Inc., which he earlier accused of forging "onerous" contracts with the government.
"I told (Finance Secretary) Dominguez, 'tell them that I am no longer honoring the contract,'" the president recalls telling his finance chief. — Ian Nicolas Cigaral
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