QUEZON CITY -- As part of the preparations for the first State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the Opening of the First Regular Session of the 19th Congress, the House of Representatives issued the latest health and safety protocols for the guidance of attendees to these major events on Monday, July 25, 2022.

In a memorandum dated July 20, 2022, House Secretary General Mark Llandro “Dong” L. Mendoza advised everyone that individuals entering the North Wing Lobby, South Wing Lobby, and the Plenary Hall of the House of Representatives on SONA Day are required to present a negative result of an RT-PCR test taken at any Department of Health-accredited laboratory not earlier than 1:30 p.m. of Saturday, July 23, 2022.

Meanwhile, House Members, Secretariat officials and staff, and service providers, reporting for work and who would enter the Plenary Hall on SONA Day, may take their RT-PCR test on Saturday, July 23, 2022 from 1:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. or on Sunday, July 24, 2022, from 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. House Members and Secretariat officials may take the RT-PCR test at the South Wing Annex, while Secretariat staff and service providers may take it at the RVM Building.

As part of the sanitation and clearing measures to be conducted by the Presidential Security Group (PSG), the House is limiting the entry of personnel in the different congressional offices to a maximum of only four persons whose names have to be submitted to the Legislative Security Bureau (LSB).

Lastly, the Secretariat should maintain a skeletal force for extremely essential personnel only, or those who are involved in the preparations for SONA Day. / Writer: Rowena Bundang; Photographers: Engelbert Engay and Alvin Loria, Inter-Parliamentary and Public Affairs Department – Press and Public Affairs Bureau (IPAD-PPAB) Day. (HoP)