Imee Marcos, Other Duterte-Allied Senators to Skip Marcos' SONA

MANILA, Philippines — Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano and Senator Imee Marcos will snub President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s fifth State of the Nation Address on Monday, July 27, protesting what they see as the jailing and prosecution of their bloc. Both minority senators wore black to the Senate session hours before the speech. Senators Pia Cayetano and Loren Legarda also turned up in black in their apparel. "Masama ang loob namin dahil pinakukulong, kinakasuhan ang minority," Marcos told reporters in an ambush interview. "Yun lang, parang… Hindi ko kaya eh." (We feel bad because the minority is being jailed and charged. That's it, it's like... I can't take it.) Cayetano said he preferred to watch the address on television. "Baka mas komportable din 'yung administrasyon that way, and it's my simple way of protesting pati sa pag bla-black," he said. (Maybe the administration would also be more comfortable that way, and it's my simple way of protesting, along with wearing black.) Both senators said there is no consensus for the entire minority bloc to sit out the president's SONA. Asked who else in their bloc would skip the SONA, Marcos said: "Palagay ko si Sen. Loren, Cayetano, Sen. Robin yata," she said, naming Legarda, Cayetano and Senator Robin Padilla. "Nagtanungan lang kami ngayon eh." (I think Sen. Loren, Cayetano, maybe Sen. Robin. We just asked each other now.) Minority bloc member Sen. Jinggoy Estrada has been detained in Quezon City since June over plunder charges tied to the flood control scandal. Meanwhile, Sen. Ronald dela Rosa has not surfaced since the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for crimes against humanity over the Duterte drug war. Downplaying her boycott of her own brother's SONA, Marcos quipped that she had worn black to last year's address as well and campaigned in it during her 2025 Senate run. "Yun ang aking tinakbo noong 2025 bilang senador," she said. Marcos left her brother's senatorial slate in 2025 to join Vice President Sara Duterte's lineup. (That was what I ran on in 2025 as senator.) Organizers laid no red carpet this year and asked guests to leave the lavish outfits at home, citing the energy crisis and the Mindanao earthquake. Cayetano is scheduled to deliver the minority's kontra-SONA on Tuesday. The impeachment trial of Vice President Duterte was cleared from the calendar for both days. Source: Philstar Nation