MANILA - Incoming House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Wednesday dispelled talk that President Rodrigo Duterte will not deliver his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) before the joint session of Congress.

"Saan ba galing? Hindi pwedeng 'di ka mag-SONA," said Alvarez, an ally of Duterte.

"Masyadong imaginative, 'di naman siguro pwede. May bansa na ba gumawa niyan?" he added.

There has been talk in Congress that the President may choose not to deliver his annual report to the nation before the body.

The SONA marks the opening of the regular session of Congress each year.

Duterte skipped the joint session of Congress, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers for president and vice-president, which proclaimed him and Leni Robredo as the winners of the last national elections.

Duterte had said back then that he never attended any of his proclamations in any of his previous electoral victories.