Former vice president Leni Robredo (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (MANILA BULLETIN, Facebook)

San Jose del Monte Rep. Florida "Rida" Robes lectured Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday, July 11 and said that the latter should act more like her predecessor, former vice president Leni Robredo. 

“She should follow VP Leni’s example, who made it a point to attend the SONA, in a hall teeming with Duterte stalwarts,” Robes said in a statement Thursday night, July 11. 

This, after the Vice President told reporters earlier that day that he would not attend President Marcos' third SONA or State of the Nation Address on July 22 in Batasang Pambansa Complex. 

“President [Rodrigo] Duterte cursed everybody but he did not utter a single bad word about [his] Vice President, out of respect of the office VP Leni held. President BBM (Bongbong Marcos), ever the gentleman, will do the same, and in fact, would do better than her (VP Sara) father, by praising her,” she said. 

Former LP chairperson Robredo served as the vice president of the elder Duterte from 2016 to 2022. Despite being on opposite sides of the political fence, Robredo was always physically present for ex-president Duterte's SONA, except for the pandemic years. 

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Regarding Vice President Duterte's decision to skip this year's SONA, Robes said, “Tradition dictates that she should be there. Etiquette requires her to be there.” 

Incidentally, the incumbent Vice President is on her way out of the Marcos Cabinet--she voluntarily resigned as Department of Education (DepEd) secretary last June 19. 

Some of her supporters believe that this positions her as the "opposition leader" ahead of the 2025 mid-term elections. 

Vice President Duterte and President Marcos ran and won under the UniTeam banner during the 2022 polls.