Tradition, simple protocol to be observed on SONA day

Traditions and simple protocol will be observed during the first State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III, his chief protocol officer said Monday. “We want to make the protocol rules as simple as possible, that is the message that I’ve gotten from the President," said former Ambassador Miguel Perez Rubio, chief of the presidential protocol. He spoke to reporters on Monday after conducting an ocular inspection of the House of Representatives’ session hall where the President will deliver the SONA on July 26. He said they “want to be polite but not excessively ceremonial, not with a lot of pomp and circumstance. Traditions have been observed all the time. We will follow traditions because it’s been observed under the Constitution." He added they will not be strict but they will be observing the rules. “We will hope (to keep the order) but obviously sometimes the people are emotionally excited and anxious. It’s not very nice if you’re showing on television that it is very unruly. Talagang maganda kung everything is very nice and orderly, at least we pray, we hope," he said. During the ocular inspection, the protocol officers counted the seats to ensure that the number of attendees matches the number of seats. Rubio admitted it will be difficult to limit the number of people attending the SONA because the Senate and the House also send their own invitations. “I’m sure that a lot of people wanted to come here… it will be very, very difficult to be able to limit the people," he said. He said they want to accommodate as many guests as possible. However, certain factors have to be considered like the size of the venue and the number of seats available. Among those who will be invited are the Cabinet members, the members of the diplomatic community, and former presidents. –VVP, GMANews.TV