VICE President Sara Duterte on Thursday confirmed that she will skip President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s third State of the Nation’s Address (SONA) on July 22.
“No, I will not attend the SONA. I am appointing myself as the designated survivor,” Duterte said in an ambush interview at the sidelines of an event in Davao City.
A designated survivor is a person in the presidential line of succession who is deliberately kept separate from others during big events to ensure someone survives to assume the presidency in case of a disaster.
There is no such position yet in the Philippines, but Senator Panfilo Lacson filed a bill in 2019 authorizing the President to name a designated survivor.
The Vice President did not offer any reason or explanation for her plan not to attend Marcos’ upcoming SONA.
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