VICE President Sara Duterte will be attending the State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday as well as the opening of the 19th Congress which is expected to elect her campaign manager Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez as Speaker of the House.

House Secretary-General Mark Llandro Mendoza said about 80 percent of the invitees have already confirmed attendance.

Also expected to be in the plenary are former President Joseph Estrada and former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who was elected as Pampanga 2nd District representative.

Meanwhile, there are no words yet from former President Rodrigo Duterte and former Vice President Leni Robredo on whether they will attend or not.

Mendoza said they sent 1,360 invitations for this year’s SONA, which is higher than the last two SONAs of President Duterte of only 1,200.

“We sent out mga around 1,360 invitations, so we’re just waiting for confirmation. Pero around 70 to 80 percent nagconfirm na,” Mendoza said.

Others who are expected to grace the SONA are members of the diplomatic corps, members of the Supreme Court; former Senate Presidents and even former Speaker of the House.

In a related story, Mendoza said Marcos preferred a simple SONA to be directed by Paul Soriano.

“Ang gusto ng Malacanang, ng Pangulo ay maging simple at more on traditional (ang SONA). Walang glamor, basta simple lang,” Soriano said.

Among the SONA performers is a choir group from Ilocos who will sing the national anthem.

For the 19th Congress, Mendoza led the unveiling of the marker on the renovation of the Plenary Hall.

The marker states that the renovation “is a manifestation of the collective commitment of the House Members of the 18th Congress to uphold the institution’s dignity, preserve the nation’s legislative history, and enrich the Filipino people’s democratic heritage.”

The marker bears the name of the officials of the 18th Congress led by Speaker Velasco, Majority Leader Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, Minority Leader Joseph Stephen Paduano, all the Deputy Speakers, Committee on Accounts Chairman Rep. Paolo Duterte, SecGen Mendoza, as well as Sergeant-at-Arms PBGen. Rodelio Jocson (Ret.).

The Plenary Hall now has 367 seats for lawmakers and 1,357 gallery seats.