Women attending President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s upcoming State of the Nation Address will be asked to come in simple Filipiniana attire rather than elaborate evening wear, part of a deliberate effort by organizers to scale back the pageantry surrounding the annual event.
That instruction was relayed by House Secretary General Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil during the first inter-agency coordination meeting on Tuesday, where logistics, protocol, and security arrangements for the July 27 address were mapped out. Garafil, who hosted the session, summed up the approach with a single word: simplicity.
“There will be no red carpet, no long gowns,” she said, noting that the dress guidance would be spelled out directly in the official invitations.
Garafil tied the restrained format to the broader economic mood, citing pressures such as elevated fuel costs and the climbing prices of everyday goods. The Manila Bulletin reported that her remarks came a day after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake hit Sarangani and surrounding areas of Mindanao, a disaster that has killed more than 30 people and pulled government attention toward relief work.
This will be the president’s fifth SONA since he took office in 2022, and his second-to-last. Despite the pared-down staging, Garafil stressed that the occasion would retain its gravity. “Even the preparations that we are all geared toward, it is simple but still dignified,” she said, framing the address as a significant moment for both the administration and the public.
The event will be staged at the Batasang Pambansa Complex, the long-standing venue for the chief executive’s yearly report to Congress. Representatives from the House, Senate, Office of the President, security bodies, and local government units took part in Tuesday’s planning session.
The Senate’s contingent was headed by its newly installed Secretary, Renato Bantug Jr., who pledged the chamber’s cooperation. Brigada News reported that Bantug, who serves under Senate President Pro Tempore Sherwin Gatchalian, drew a few laughs at the meeting when he remarked that he had not expected to find himself back at the House given the present turbulence in the Senate.
