MANILA - Attendees of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s second State of the Nation Address who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no longer need to present a negative COVID-19 test result or fill out a health declaration form to enter the premises of the House of Representatives on July 24, according to House Secretary General Reginald Velasco.

He noted that having a booster shot is also not a requirement to attend the SONA. They only need to present their vaccination card.

But for unvaccinated vaccinated guests or those with COVID symptoms, they will be required to present a negative RT-PCR test result.

“We have been informed na ili-lift na ‘yun, wala na ‘yung antigen requirement. Even the health declaration, we will forgo that. So kayo mga media hindi na naming ire-require ‘yun. The only requirement kunwari may symptoms ka, then we will require you to get the RT-PCR, or ‘yung mga unvaccinated. Then we will have a special lane for them, kasi we don’t want to risk the health of all the guest and members of Congress and everybody else present, including the President himself,” Velasco said, after attending an inter-agency meeting on Tuesday afternoon to discuss SONA preparations.

“’Yung vaccination card na lang, tapos ‘yung vaccination card hindi na ‘yung with booster. ‘Yung primary na lang, ‘yung dalawa. ‘Yun ‘yung minimum requirement. ‘Yung unvaccinated, preferably huwag na lang umattend, pero kung kailangan umattend kailangan mag-RT-PCR, 48 hours before SONA,” he added.

Velasco said the lifting of the antigen test requirement came from Malacanang. He added that the wearing of face mask will be optional.

“Sila ‘yung nag announce na hindi na ire-require ‘yung antigen. As you know, may mga receptions sa Malacanang na wala na ‘yung antigen. So palagay ko, they realized na it should be back to normal," said Velasco.

"In fact, baka nga yung message ni President BBM we’re back in business. Di ba ‘yung talk with economic managers... They are very optimistic about the prospects of the Philippine economy. So kailangan consistent ‘yung protocol mo. But they will also require ‘yung face mask pero optional, yun na yung magiging rule natin. Hindi na ‘yung lahat naka face mask. So kung medyo delikado ang situation mo, gagawin optional ‘yun,” Velasco said.

The House Secretary General expects a full house plenary on SONA day.

“Estimate, well we have seating capacity of about 1,700 to 2,000, so we will have more than that,” Velasco said.

"We have requested our friends from the Senate, Office of the President to finalize the guest list," he added. "We will have contingency planning in case we will have more guests than usual. Because we expect more guests than the previous SONA."

"We will have this color-coded IDs, in other words, ‘pag wala kang ID, no entry," Velasco noted.

He said Paul Soriano is the designated director for the 2nd SONA.

“Ngayon siguro mahaba-haba (ang SONA) dahil may mga accomplishment s’yang (Pres. Marcos Jr.) ire-report and then some priority legislative measure that the administration would like Congress to pass,” Velasco added.

Leaders of both Houses of Congress met on Monday to discuss the priority measures that need urgent action for the Second Regular Session of the 19th Congress. House Speaker Martin Romualdez and Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri led the meeting.

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