By Deighton Acuin

PHOTO: House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez

COVID-19 social distancing protocol has been violated as the physically-present guests of President Rodrigo Duterte’s last State of the Nation Address crowd around the chief executive to take photo opportunities.

As the Senate and the House of Representatives declared an adjournment after Duterte finished his speech for almost three hours, lawmakers and guests greeted the chief executive as he went through the plenary grounds.



More guests have surrounded the President for selfies as the latter is about to leave the plenary hall.

The three-hour speech marking Duterte’s last SONA was held at Batasang Pambansa.

However, there are protocols in place to contain the spread of coronavirus particularly amid the detection of Delta variant, namely all guests must have been fully vaccinated against the disease, must present a negative COVID-19 swab result, wearing face masks and face shields, and adhering to floor markings for physical distancing.