MANILA, Philippines – As in 2018, the Duterte Cabinet will be holding fora to showcase the achievements of the Duterte presidency in the lead up to his 4th State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July.

The “pre-SONA” fora were discussed by Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles during the 38th Cabinet meeting on Monday, June 10.

Each of the 3 fora will be organized by a specific Cabinet cluster.

They will take place in Metro Manila and two key cities outside Luzon – Cebu City in the Visayas and Davao City in Mindanao.

Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo, in a statement, gave a rundown of the 3 fora:

• “Patuloy na Pag-unlad” forum by Economic Development and Infrastructure Cluster – July 1, Manila
• “Patuloy na Malasakit at Pagkakaisa” forum by Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster and Participatory Governance Cluster – July 10, Cebu City
• “Patuloy na Katatagan” forum by Climate Change Adaptation, Mitigation and Disaster Risk Reduction Cluster and Security, Justice and Peace Cluster – July 17, Davao City

In previous pre-SONA fora, Cabinet members themselves gave updates on the various programs and projects pursued by their cluster.

Panelo said it’s possible that the purpose of these gatherings was to allow the President to focus on personal insights, rather than his administration’s accomplishments, during his SONA on July 22.

However, the spokesman said he isn’t certain if Duterte will, for the most part, read his speech, like in last year’s SONA, or speak extemporaneously. – Rappler.com