VICE President Sara Duterte will not attend President Marcos Jr.’s third State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) on July 22, saying she would rather be the “designated survivor” in case anything untoward happens in Congress that day.
“No. No, I will not attend sa SONA. I am appointing myself as the designated survivor,” the Vice President, who recently quit the Marcos Cabinet, said in jest during an interview on the sidelines of the Child and Adolescent Neurodevelopmental Center Inauguration in Davao City.
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.
The practice, which dates back to the Cold War era, is used to guarantee there will always be someone to take up the reins of the government in case an unimaginable disaster or mass-casualty event happens.
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. Duterte also resigned last month from the Cabinet as Education secretary and as co-vice chair of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC),
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.
Speaker Martin Romualdez said while every public official has the prerogative to decide on their attendance at significant events, “the State of the Nation Address (SONA) is a crucial moment for unity and collaboration among our nation’s leaders.”
“It is a time to reflect on our progress, address challenges, and outline our vision for the future,” he said. “Our constituents deserve to see their leaders united and focused on the collective good.”
House Secretary General Reginald Velasco said the Vice President was obviously just be joking because there is no such thing as a “designated survivor” in the Philippine Constitution, which provides for the line of succession in case the President dies, resigns, incapacitated or forcibly removed from office.
The line of presidential succession follows the order of the Vice President, the Senate President, and the Speaker of the House.
Velasco said the House still trying to get an official confirmation from the Office of the Vice President even if the younger Duterte has already said she was not attending the SONA.
He said the House will still reserve a seat for the Vice President in the plenary in case she changes her mind.
Manila Rep. Joel Chua said he appreciates the younger Duterte’s “humor,” but she should be reminded that the security of the President “is not a laughing matter.”
“Given current political tensions, such a joke is not in good taste because the security of the President of the Philippines is not a joking or laughing matter. Great care is taken to ensure the security of the President, especially during the SONA,” he said in a statement.
Chua said the Vice President “does not have that appointing power for a designated survivor because it is the 1987 Constitution that designates the Vice President as the first next in line to succeed the President.”
“To be specific, the two paragraphs of Section 8 of Article VII of the Constitution provides for the succession to the President and to the Acting President. The second paragraph gives Congress the mandate to produce an enabling law for the acting President situation. I happen to have a nearly finished Designated Survivor bill, the details of which I can disclose when it is filed,” he said.
