Pampanga 3rd district Rep. Aurelio "Dong" Gonzales Jr. (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (Facebook)

Senior Deputy Speaker Pampanga 3rd district Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr. has developed a trust issue with Vice President Sara Duterte. 

This, as the high-ranking House of Representatives official recalled on Friday, July 12 the past controversial statements of the lady official. 

The latest of such statements is Vice President Duterte's pronouncement that she would be skipping President Marcos' State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 22, while joking that she was the "designated survivor" of the event. 

Gonzales says the joke "leaves a bad taste in the mouth", given Vice President Duterte's stature. 

The designated survivor joke implies that something catastrophic will happen to the SONA and result to the death of all the attending government leaders, a la the 2016 Netflix series. 

“Is she really serious?” Gonzales asked, as he recalled that the daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte even joked previously that all members of her family – from her father to her two brothers, Davao City Mayor Sebastian and Congressman Paolo – will be running in the May 2025 senatorial elections. 

READ THIS:

https://mb.com.ph/2024/7/12/may-masamang-mangyayari-gonzales-says-vp-duterte-s-sona-joke-warrants-a-probe

Gonzales said there was also a time when the Vice President said she will be seeking re-election as mayor in Davao City. 

“I mean: which is which really? We don’t even know if we can still trust her now," said the veteran congressman from Pampanga. 

"Whatever happened to some decency or at least being forthright in public service? A career in government is not something anybody can play with. We’re dealing with people’s money and public resources,” Gonzales said.  

Vice President Duterte was elected to her current position during May 2022 elections wherein she ran alongside her one -time "UniTeam" partner, President Marcos.