Vice President Sara Duterte will skip President Marcos’ fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 28 as she would be in South Korea for a “Free Duterte Rally” the day before.

The Vice President said that the rally will push through on July 27 and she would be flying home to the Philippines on July 28, the same day of the President’s SONA.

“There is a Filipino community event already confirmed on July 27 in South Korea. It's a Filipino community program. They organized it and we were invited as speakers,” she shared during a chance interview with supporters in The Hague, Netherlands on Wednesday, July 9.

“We confirmed on the schedule because I wanted to thank the Filipino community as well in South Korea. Personally, thank them. I've always been thanking and I've always expressed my gratitude to the Filipino communities worldwide,” she added.

Duterte furthered that they try to accommodate invitations whenever there are Filipino community-sponsored events for the former president.

She also confirmed that she won’t be able to attend the SONA, citing that it would be her return flight to the Philippines.

“During the SONA, I will be traveling back to the Philippines. It's the travel date from Korea,” she added.

The Vice President also skipped the President’s SONA last year, volunteering herself as the “designated survivor.”

Meanwhile, Office of the Vice President (OVP) spokesperson and lawyer Ruth Castelo assured Duterte is on top of things at the OVP despite being in The Hague currently to visit her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.

“Yes, of course. She‘s still running the office. It’s still her on top of the Office of the Vice President,” she said, adding that the Vice President has “a very able” chief-of-staff in Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez.

“So, everything is under control and the Vice President is actually very reachable. So. I understand that anything that need her immediate attention can be relay to her ASAP,” Castelo furthered.

In a radio interview on Thursday, July 10, she also clarified that Duterte’s trips have received the travel authority from the Office of the President.

“It's a personal travel sir. It's a personal leave. Lahat po ng biyahe ng Bise Presidente (All of the Vice President’s travels), whether official or personal, meron pong (they have) travel authority from the Office of the President,” she said.

Castelo also defended the Vice President’s trip, adding that any daughter would endeavor to be by her detained parent’s side, especially as the former president is already 80 years old.

“Kahit naman po siguro sinong anak, kung pwede na lang hindi ka na nga umuwi, kung pwede na lang doon ka na matulog sa loob ng kulungan para masamahan ang tatay mo na 80 years old, na nakakulong sa ibang bansa (Any daughter, if it’s only possible not to return home, if it’s possible to stay there inside the prison to be with your 80-year-old father who’s detained in another country),” she said.

The official was reacting to Palace Press Officer and Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro’s remarks versus the Vice President’s trips.

“Hindi ko po alam kung bakasyon pong matatawag ‘yung pagbisita sa kulungan. So hindi ko po makita na bakasyon yung ginagawa ni Vice President Duterte (I don’t know if visiting a prison is a vacation. So, I don’t know if I can see what Vice President Duterte is doing as a vacation),” Castelo stressed.