Her “designated survivor” remark about skipping President Marcos’ third State of the Nation Address (SONA) next week was neither a joke nor a bomb threat, Vice President Sara Duterte said on Wednesday, July 17.
Vice President Sara Duterte (Photo from Inday Sara Duterte Facebook page)
Her comments drew the ire of several lawmakers who warned the Vice President against making such remarks in light of the scheduled state address on July 22, which will be attended by most high-ranking government officials, at the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Quezon City.
“Dili siya joke, dili pa siya bomb threat. I think many missed the point. So for me, wala akong sagot the first time, I don’t think it deserve an explanation,” she told reporters during the Brigada Eskwela in Cebu City.
This was one of the last events for the Department of Education (DepEd) that the Vice President attended as her resignation will be effective on Friday, July 19.
Duterte made the remark about appointing herself as a designated survivor after revealing to reporters that she would be skipping Marcos’ SONA next week.
Unlike the United States, the Philippines does not have a law on designated survivor.
A designated survivor is someone—usually an appointed member of the President’s Cabinet or someone in the presidential line of succession—who is asked to sit out the SONA to take over the presidency in case of a catastrophic incident that leads to the incapacitation of everyone in the line of succession.
Several lawmakers, including Deputy Speaker and Quezon 2nd District Rep. David Suarez, AnaKalusugan Partylist Rep. Ray Reyes, and House Majority Leader and Zamboanga City 2nd District Rep. Manuel Jose Dalipe, criticized the Vice President.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez said that it is the prerogative of a public official to attend or not attend the SONA, although it features “unity” among leaders.
House Secretary General Reginald Velasco also said he believed Duterte was merely joking when she made the remark because there is no such thing in the country.
In 2020, former senator Panfilo Lacson called for the passage of a “Designated Survivor” legislation to prevent a leadership crisis in cases where the president and other high-ranking members of the government become incapacitated.
Presently, the line of presidential succession includes the Vice President, the Senate President, and the House Speaker.