MANILA (UPDATE) - President Rodrigo Duterte should give a "comprehensive" and "far-sighted" outline of the government's plan to help Filipinos survive the COVID-19 crisis, several senators said days before the chief executive delivers his penultimate State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Duterte should "dwell less on what has been done and more on what is to be done," Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said in a statement.

"Wherever it will be delivered, through whatever medium, the SONA 2020 must contain one thing: an inspiring 20/20 vision that will rally this nation to move as one," he said.

"Magsasaka man o millennial, 'yan ang kanilang hahanapin sa mensahe ng Pangulo... The path to victory over the virus," Recto said.

(Whether they are farmers or millennials, that is what they will look for in the message of the President... The path to victory over the virus.)

ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLAN

Duterte's second to the last SONA set on Monday comes 4 months after he placed Luzon - the Philippines' most populous island - under a nearly 80-day enhanced community quarantine, one of the longest COVID-19 lockdowns in the world.

The mandatory suspension of non-essential businesses - including airlines, malls and some factories - during the Luzon lockdown led to either the closure or downsizing of several establishments, leaving 7.3 million Filipinos jobless as of April 2020.

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"The upcoming SONA is an opportunity for the President to present an overall comprehensive plan on how the country will survive this pandemic," Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said in a radio interview.

"At the top of our wish list is to hear the President's plan on how to revive our economy heavily hit by the pandemic and help millions of our countrymen, including hundreds of thousands of overseas Filipino workers, who lost their livelihood," he said.

Senate Committee on Labor chair Sen. Joel Villanueva urged the President to discuss "how the government intends to generate jobs" in his annual report to the nation.

"The President's address should serve as a guidepost for all agencies to create and implement policies that would lead to the restart of the economy... and provide green lanes for in-demand" Filipino workers abroad, Villanueva said.

"We need to boost the confidence of our businesses to resume their operations and of our workers to come back to work," he said.

Duterte's 5th SONA "will be crucial in easing the people's fears and preventing discontent" during the ongoing health and economic crises, Senate Committee on Economic Affairs chair Sen. Imee Marcos said in a separate statement.

The President's speech will be "judged by how far-sighted and inclusive" the government's solutions for economic and health recovery are, she said.

Congress earlier passed the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act which authorized the President to realign funds to boost the Philippines' efforts to curb the spread of the virus.

Under the law, some 18 million families were entitled to receive 2 tranches of cash aid, ranging from between P5,000 and P8,000 per month in April and May.

The law also mandated compensation of P1 million for health workers who die of COVID-19, and P100,000 each for those who contract the virus.

While economic managers have borrowed P386.6 billion for COVID-19 response projects, not all beneficiaries of the cash assistance programs have received the promised aid from the government.

Duterte's SONA should also include a "transparent accounting of the various aid packages" during the COVID-19 crisis, Marcos said.

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PANDEMIC FIGHT STATUS

A chunk of the President's SONA this year should focus on the Philippines' status in battling COVID-19, Senate Committee on Finance chair Sen. Sonny Angara said in a statement.

While the government has built several quarantine facilities nationwide, the Philippines has yet to flatten its COVID-19 curve as the virus continues to spread in the capital region and outside of Luzon.

As of July 25, the government has recorded 78,412 COVID-19 cases, with 1,897 deaths and 25,752 recoveries.

"I would also like to hear if we have improved (or plan to improve) our health systems to have better testing, contact tracing and quarantine facilities nationwide," Angara, a COVID-19 survivor, said.

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri also wants the President to give a timeline on when the Philippines expects to procure coronavirus vaccines, noting that the medicine is the "one thing we need in order to finally end this COVID-19 crisis."

"Other countries are already working with and negotiating with vaccine developers and manufacturers for a quick and easy procurement process once they're available," Zubiri, who also recovered from the disease, said.

"It would be great to hear about the government's procurement plans for it, and perhaps a timeline of when we should expect the vaccine to be made available to our hospitals and our people," Zubiri said.

"We can't afford to get left behind."

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The Senate opposition bloc is ready to "cooperate" to help the country "survive" the COVID-19 crisis, Drilon earlier said, but noted that the President is supposed to map out a "clear" plan for the country's survival.

"We are ready to support any measure towards economic recovery. But the first question is: How much do we need to jumpstart the economy?" Drilon said.

"There is no solution to this but we have to take the bull by the horn and have proposals that will guide us. Today we have none, unfortunately," he said.

• Drilon says opposition 'willing to cooperate' to help Philippines 'survive' COVID-19 crisis

Malacañang earlier said that Duterte would present the country's pandemic recovery roadmap during his SONA.

The executive branch has yet to unveil the government's COVID-19 plan because officials "want to unveil it in the SONA itself and in many fora after the SONA," Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said.

• Duterte to present Philippines pandemic recovery roadmap during SONA: Palace

MESSAGE OVER MESSENGER

On July 27, only 8 senators will be at the Batasang Pambansa to witness Duterte as he physically delivers his penultimate SONA amid the threat of COVID-19.

Other lawmakers will watch the President either from the Senate Building in Pasay City or in their homes after Malacañang officials imposed a 50-person maximum capacity at the Batasang Pambansa to protect Duterte from possibly catching the virus.

"The message is more important than where the messenger is," Recto said, noting that this is not the first time a special arrangement was made for the SONA.

Former President Elpidio Quirino delivered his 1950 SONA via radio broadcast while he was confined at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Maryland, USA.

"The principal audience of the SONA are not the politicians inside the hall but the people outside," Recto said.

"It is not for the consumption of the people who may clap in the president's presence, but for the sovereign, of which the SONA through the ages tries to answer the one question on their minds: Have our lives gotten better?" he said.

• READ: Billions in gov't loans, millions go jobless: COVID-19's disastrous impact on the Philippines