Three years ago I wrote an article titled "The Influence of Netflix on Philippine Politics." The article focused on how then Senator Lacson's political opinions were being influenced by watching Netflix. After watching the show Designated Survivor which is about the line of succession after the President and others are killed. He introduced legislation called the Presidential Succession Act, referred to simply as the designated survivor bill to address such a situation should it arise in the Philippines. As of now the Philippines has no designated survivor rule.
That brings us to Vice President Sara Duterte. When asked if she would be attending President Marcos' State of the Union Address she said no and appointed herself the country's designated survivor.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2024/07/12/2369627/sara-skip-sona-names-self-designated-survivor |
After skipping the Palarong Pambansa opening, Vice President Sara Duterte is also not attending President Marcos’ State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 22.
This is the first time that she will be absent at the event since the pair ascended to power after their team-up scored a landslide victory in 2022.
“No, I will not attend the SONA. I am appointing myself as the designated survivor,” Duterte said in an interview yesterday at the inauguration of the Child and Adolescent Neurodevelopment Center in Davao City.
Duterte did not elaborate on what she meant by “designated survivor,” which drew negative comments from certain quarters.
In the United States, a “designated survivor” must be secured in case the president and all of the constitutional successors are killed or incapacitated in a terrorist attack or calamity.
Duterte’s decision to skip the SONA raised questions about her insistence that she remains friends with Marcos despite her resignation from his Cabinet.
Sought for comment, House secretary-general Reginald Velasco said they would still wait for an official communication from the Office of the Vice President.
In a previous interview, he told journalists that Congress is giving much leeway to VIPs, including the Vice President, as a matter of policy as it is their privilege to confirm their last-minute attendance at the SONA.
For his part, Speaker Martin Romualdez said yesterday “every public official has the prerogative to decide on their attendance at significant events.”
He added that the SONA is “a crucial moment for unity and collaboration among our nation’s leaders,” which is why the people “deserve to see their leaders united for the collective good.”
Rep. Joel Chua of Manila’s third district said Duterte assigning herself as a designated survivor is concerning, as her declaration was “not a laughing matter” amidst the current political tension.
“Strictly speaking, VP Duterte does not have that appointing power for a designated survivor because it is the 1987 Constitution that designates the Vice as the first next-in-line to succeed the President,” Chua said.
Sara's statements have drawn many comments from across the aisle adjuring her to stop watching too much Netflix.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2024/7/12/vp-sara-told-netflix-a-poor-basis-for-your-actions |
Netflix shouldn't be used as basis for things that a high--ranking government official does or doesn't do.
Thus, said Camiguin lone district Rep. Jurdin Jesus Romualdo in a statement Friday, July 12 as he chided Vice President Sara Duterte for her supposed reason for skipping the State of the Nation Address (SONA) later this month.
"Vice President Sara Duterte should be more cautious with what she says. After all, she is still a public official, and Netflix is not a good basis for her actions or inactions," the Mindanao lawmaker said.
The Vice President announced that she wouldn't be attending President Marcos' third SONA this coming July 22 at Batasan Pambansa Complex, home of the House of Representatives.
She Duterte claimed she was the 'designated survivor" of the event, which was a reference to a once-popular Netflix thriller that ran from 2016 to 2019. Kiefer Sutherland top-billed the series.
Through her joke, Vice President Duterte implied that she is the desired survivor should disaster strike the SONA and result to the death of high-ranking officials there.
"Does she have a premonition of the things to come? She should refrain from watching too much Netflix. Her joke could have been better handled given that all high-ranking officials of the land would be there," Romualdo said.
"In the decades worth of SONAs that we've had, nobody has ever flaunted being the 'designated survivor' and used it as the excuse to skip the important event. Proper decorum and tradition say that the Vice President should be there in plenary at Batasan to hear the good President's report to the nation," he said.
"This is among the political instances that take a backseat to transparency and unbridled communication with the public. Vice President Duterte's predecessors did this with no issue while in office. One would think that she would also strive to achieve that standard," he added.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1960455/sara-duterte-told-to-stop-spending-too-much-time-on-netflix |
Vice President Sara Duterte is drawing more criticisms over her self-appointment as a “designated survivor,” with lawmakers advising her to refrain from watching too much Netflix.
In the House of Representatives, legislators reminded her that having a designated survivor is not sanctioned under the Constitution.
Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. sounded the alarm on Duterte’s behavior.
“There’s no such thing as ‘Designated Survivor; in the Philippines! Is she spending too much time watching Netflix? She better read our Constitution. It’s as clear as sunlight,” Gonzales said in a statement Friday.
“She should be more circumspect and responsible in her utterances, owing to her title and the high office that she represents,” he added.
Was it really a joke? Who knows what lies in the heart of Sara Duterte?
Her refusal to attend the SONA really amounts to petty politics as she and President Marcos have had a falling out with Sara going so far as to resign from the cabinet as Education Secretary. Vice President Sara Duterte has said the Uniteam was only for the elections. Now the elections are over and so is the Uniteam.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2024/06/13/2362448/sara-uniteam-good-only-2022-polls |
Is the UniTeam still intact?
It was only for the 2022 elections, according to Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, and it has served its purpose when it launched her and President Marcos to victory.
“The UniTeam was a tandem during the 2022 elections. The elections are over, we won and we are grateful to those who supported us,” Duterte told reporters on the sidelines of the 126th Independence Day rites here in Rizal Park yesterday.
“We are not candidates anymore,” Duterte added when pressed by reporters about the status of the UniTeam.
What this indicates is that Marcos and Duterte are duplicitous, untrustworthy people. Whether the rumors are true that Duterte had originally planned to run for President but for the sake of political expediency ran as Marcos' Vice President need not concern us here. The fact is Marcos and Duterte presented a false front that quickly fell apart. Yet lawmakers are now saying Sara is no longer trustworthy.
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| https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/584345/vp-sara-duterte-slammed-by-lawmakers-shes-no-longer-trustworthy |
Ranking leaders of the House of Representatives called Vice President Sara Duterte’s quip about appointing herself as the “designated survivor” during the President Marcos’ third State of the Nation Address (Sona) as a tasteless joke and a sign that the Vice President Duterte “could no longer be trusted.”
Duterte was chided by senior deputy floor leader and Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr. together with members of the so-called “Young Guns” coalition for alarming the people with insinuations of a bombing during the President’s annual Sona.
Representative Gonzales and the “Young Guns” coalition said this in separate statements on Friday, a day after Duterte made the off-the-cuff remarks.
This is the first time the top leaders of the 300-strong House of Representatives openly criticized Duterte, whose resignation from Mr. Marcos’ Cabinet as education secretary takes effect on July 19.
“We don’t even know if we can still trust her now. Whatever happened to some decency or at least being forthright in public service?” Gonzales said.
This lady was NEVER trustworthy. Did Representative Gonzales and the “Young Guns” coalition forget the confidential funds scandal? If they trusted her then they are trustworthy either. For that matter who in the government is trustworthy? Certainly not President Marcos who revealed he ran for President to cleanse his family's name.
Only Sara knows what she truly meant by appointing herself designated survivor. Indeed she may even end up attending the SONA. What can be said for sure however is her comments are another manifestation of corrupt, petty Philippine politics.
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