VICE President Sara Duterte yesterday said she was not joking when she said last week that she was appointing herself the “designated survivor” during President Marcos Jr.’s third State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) on Monday.
Duterte, however, also clarified that her statement should not be construed as a threat, even if it was made after she resigned from the Cabinet as Education secretary and as co-vice chair of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
“It is my first time to see a Vice President being required to attend everything,” she said in Visayan during the Brigada Eskwela National Kickoff event in Cebu. “It is not a joke. It is not a bomb threat.”
But she also said there was no point explaining what she really meant after “many missed the point.”
“For me, if you don’t understand the first time, I don’t think you deserve an explanation,” said Duterte, who has been drawing criticisms from administration allies in Congress for making what they called a “bad joke.”
MISSING THE POINT
Rep. Arlene Brosas (PL, Gabriela), a member of the militant Makabayan bloc, slammed what she said was the Vice President’s attempt to “downplay and justify her alarming ‘designated survivor’ statement,” saying her “dismissive attitude towards public concern over her remarks is unbecoming of her position and reflects a dangerous disregard for the gravity of her words.”
“VP Duterte’s claim that she is being unreasonably scrutinized for her attendance misses the point entirely. As a high-ranking government official, she is rightfully expected to be present and actively participating in matters of national importance. Her flippant response to legitimate criticism only serves to further erode public trust in her office,” she said.
The Vice President’s refusal to provide a proper explanation for her controversial statement “is deeply troubling,” Brosas said, stressing that public officials must be held accountable for their words and actions.
“Her remarks, whether intended as a joke or not, have serious implications and cannot be simply brushed aside. We call on VP Duterte to take responsibility for her words and provide a clear, unequivocal explanation to the Filipino people. Her position demands a higher standard of conduct and communication. Threats, even if claimed to be in jest, have no place in responsible governance and public discourse,” she said.
In the United States, a “designated survivor” or successor is an official in the presidential line of succession, who is kept at a separate location to ensure that someone will take over the presidency in case the President and other high-ranking officials, who are gathered together, are all killed.
Under the Philippine Constitution, the line of presidential succession follows the order of the Vice President, the Senate President, and the Speaker of the House.
Duterte has said she and the President are “still friendly with each other on a personal level” despite her decision to leave the UniTeam, the ticket under which she ran with President Marcos Jr. in the 2022 elections.
Before her resignation, Duterte’s father and Marcos’ predecessor Rodrigo Duterte has been attacking the administration over various issues, including moves to amend the Constitution, and Congress’ decision to strip the Office of the President of its confidential and intelligence funds which lawmakers realigned to agencies at the forefront of protecting the country’s territorial integrity in the West Philippine Sea, like the Philippine Coast Guard.
‘100% SECURITY’
PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil said with our without a designated survivor, President Marcos Jr will be fully secured during the SONA on Monday.
“It doesn’t matter if our VP (vice president) said that, it’s the job of the PNP, it’s the job of the AFP, and all government enforcement units to make sure that our President is 100 percent (secured),” Marbil said in a radio interview.
The same goes with members of Congress and other persons attending the SONA at the Batasang Pambansa complex in Quezon City, said Marbil.
“We are going to give a 100 percent security to the President, (members of) Congress because we need to protect our democracy, that is my instruction,” he said.
On whether the PNP is taking extra preparations to secure the SONA following the recent assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, Marbil said “we don’t discount any attempt.”
He said all precautionary measures will be adopted to ensure peace and order during SONA.
“We know that every fourth Monday of July, there will be SONA. Every year, we adopt different techniques to better secure the people, including of course the President,” said Marbil.
The PNP has earlier said some 22,000 policemen will be deployed to secure the SONA. Many of these policemen will be assigned for crowd control and traffic management.
A gun ban will be enforced starting on Saturday, until Monday, in Metro Manila, the PNP also said.
ALTERNATE ROUTES
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said it is “100 percent ready,” with over 1,200 traffic enforcers to be deployed along with a traffic management plan, for the SONA.
MMDA Chairperson Romando Artes said the agency is in close coordination with the Task Force SONA 2024, Quezon City Police District, Presidential Security Command, House of Representatives, and Quezon City government “to ensure a safe, peaceful and orderly SONA.”
Artes said the MMDA will deploy 1,329 personnel to manage both vehicular and pedestrian traffic, assist in emergency response, conduct rounds of road and sidewalk clearing operations, assist in crowd control, and traffic monitoring.
The agency, Artes said, will also implement a “no day off, no absent” policy among the assigned personnel to ensure the effective delegation of functions during the SONA.
As part of its traffic management plan, the MMDA will implement a “zipper lane” or counterflow on the southbound portions of Commonwealth Avenue to give way to vehicles of government officials and guests going to the Batasang Pambansa Complex.
Batasan-IBP Road, meanwhile, will be closed to vehicular traffic at 8 a.m. onwards as part of security measures for the SONA.
“Motorists are advised to take alternate routes to avoid the anticipated heavy traffic along Commonwealth Avenue and in the vicinity of the Batasang Pambansa Complex, especially at about 3 p.m. when dignitaries start arriving,” Artes said.
As part of the traffic management plan, the agency said the following are the alternative routes:
* Northbound (Quezon Memorial Circle to Fairview), vehicles from Elliptical Road should take North Avenue, right turn at Mindanao Avenue, then right turn to Sauyo Road or take Quirino Highway to reach the point of destination, while the southbound (Fairview to Quezon Memorial Circle), vehicles from Commonwealth Avenue should take Sauyo Road or Quirino Highway, turn left at Mindanao Avenue, then turn left at North Avenue to reach the point of destination.
* Light vehicles from C5 Road may turn left at Magiting St., turn right at Maginhawa St., turn left at Mayaman St. to Kalayaan Avenue to reach the point of destination.
* For trucks coming from C-5 along Katipunan Avenue should take Luzon Flyover then turn left at Congressional Avenue to reach the point of destination.
Artes said a mobile command center fitted with CCTV monitors, will be deployed at Batasan corner Commonwealth area to monitor traffic flow.
“SONA protest actions will be monitored at the newly enhanced MMDA Communications and Command Center located in Pasig City,” he added.
Artes said ambulances, tow trucks, mobile patrol units, motorcycle units, and flood mitigation equipment, among others, will also be dispatched at designated routes and staging areas.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III said he expects President Marcos to report on the achievements of his administration, especially on the agencies which received big budget allocations, when he delivers the SONA.
Pimentel said that in the first SONA, the President announced his plans since he was newly-elected, while the second could be taken to mean that the administration is already gearing up with those plans, but the third one should be of achievements.
He said the President should cite the gains of the Department of Agriculture since it got a budget allocation of P197.84 billion for this year, and the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development which is in-charge of putting up 6 million housing units in six years.
Pimentel said he will deliver a “contra” SONA, just like he did last year, when feels that the President’s report is “too far from the truth.”
Pimentel also said he and deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros will attend the President’s SONA.
The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said the President had no official engagement yesterday as he was preparing for the SONA.
The President previously said his SONA would focus on updating the people about the status of the programs and projects started by his administration along with the policies implemented by his administration and as well as report on the “the state of the nation” in terms of economy, criminality, and addressing social problems, among others.
Marcos also said the government has been assessing the state of the nation in terms of the lives of the people, and how they are doing; the economy and how is fairing; criminality and what the government is doing in addressing that.
He added that he is also trying to squeeze his speech into an hour.
Marcos’ first SONA in 2022 lasted for an hour and 14 minutes while his second SONA that was delivered in 2023 was an hour and 11 minutes.
The President’s father, the late President Marcos delivered the longest SONA with on Jan. 27, 1969 with a word count of 30,427 while former President Gloria Arroyo delivered the shortest SONA on July 25, 2005 with 1,551 words. — With Ashzel Hachero, Raymond Africa and Jocelyn Montemayor
