MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will be delivering his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) in the newly renovated Session Hall of the House of Representatives, the refurbishment of which cost about P100 million.

House Secretary General Mark Llandro Mendoza, who leads the institutional bureaucracy of the House, explained they pursued the renovations during the watch of former Speaker Lord Allan Velasco because of the age of the structure.

The Main Building which Houses the plenary hall was inaugurated in 1978.

Following the renovation, the regular glass doors of the session hall's main entrance has now been replaced with automatic glass doors, while the glass panels have been lined with semi-frosted glass.

Overall, the renovations were meant to increase the sitting capacity of the session hall.

The Batasang Pambansa was originally constructed in the 1970s to house the one-chamber Congress. When the 1987 Constitution reinstated the bicameral Congress, the Batasan Pambansa became the home of the House of Representatives.

The House's membership has grown as new congressional districts are created by each Congress, which in turn triggers an increase in the membership of party-list congressmen.

Mendoza says the session hall is now elevated and can accommodate as many as 350 congressmen.

Elsewhere in the complex, tarpaulins marking the State of the Nation Address have been set up. Velvet ropes and red carpets are being installed at the North and South Wing Lobbies. Security tagging areas have been set up at the entrances.

The Plenary Hall will be a bubble where only those accredited and with negative RT-PCR and antigen tests will be admitted.

Access to the complex will be limited to those invited and the accredited members of the media who must undergo screening, accreditation, COVID-19 testing and security checks first.

The entire complex will be locked down beginning Thursday afternoon, earlier than the usual lockdown of Friday or 3 days before the SONA.

On SONA day, both the House and the Senate will have their inaugural sessions in the morning separately to elect their officers, before meeting in joint session for the President's speech.

Mendoza said over 1,360 invitations have been sent out. Confirmed guests include Vice President Sara Duterte, former Presidents Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, justices of the Supreme Court, members of the diplomatic corps, and provincial governors.

Mendoza said Malacañang requested that the affair be kept simple.

Film and TV director Paul Soriano, a staunch supporter of Marcos, will direct the SONA.

• Paul Soriano to direct Marcos' 'simple, traditional' first SONA

Watch more News on iWantTFC