IN BETTER TIMES President Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte engage in small talk during the graduation rites of the Philippine Military Academy Bagong Sinag Class of 2024 in Baguio City on May 18. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte will not attend President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 28.
House Secretary General Reginald Velasco gave the information during a briefing at the Batasang Pambansa complex in Quezon City on Thursday.
Velasco confirmed that after they sent out invitations for the SONA, they received a letter from Duterte’s office indicating that she would be absent.
Despite this feedback, Velasco said they are still preparing for any eventuality that the vice president might appear, noting that they are still setting aside a holding room for her.
“We have received a letter from the office that she is not attending […] We received it after we had sent all the formal invitations,” the secretary general told reporters.
“We call them institutional guests – heads of agencies, constitutional commissions, our justices of the Supreme Court and including the Office of the Vice President,” he explained.
“But we received this note that she won’t be attending this coming Sona,” he pointed out.
“But we are not excluding the possibility that she will attend, right? So there will be a seat for her reserved at the center of the gallery – the VIP gallery,” the House official said.
“So if she decides to come, there will be a seat for her and her immediate staff […]. In fact, we will designate a holding room for our vice president and her staff, as we have done in the past,” Velasco repeated.
Duterte’s office did not provide any reason why she is skipping the SONA.
“None. There was no reason given. And, in fact, we don’t really ask for any reason, right?” Velasco maintained.
“So far, she’s the only one who declined, right? All the rest, we have received positive indications that they are all coming,” he noted.
Should Duterte skip the fourth Sona, this will not be the first time that she will do that.
In 2024, the vice president stirred controversy by saying that she would not attend and she, instead, was appointing herself as the “designated survivor.”
READ: For Sona day, Sara Duterte appoints self ‘designated survivor’
Several netizens questioned whether or not Duterte’s statement was a veiled threat because it seemed to imply that something wrong might happen to the country’s leaders who would attend the Sona.
Different lawmakers called out Duterte over this remark, saying that it was done in poor taste as there is no such thing as a designated survivor under the 1987 Constitution.
House Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. said Duterte should get off Netflix and instead read the charter.
READ: Sara Duterte told to stop spending too much time on Netflix
The House is currently in the thick of preparations for Marcos’ Sona, which also takes place after the House and the Senate of the 20th Congress open their first regular session.
Earlier, officials from security establishments like the Presidential Security Command (PSC) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) checked the facilities inside the Batasang Pambansa complex and the House building.
Velasco said these activities are part of security measures.
“Well, that’s still part of the preparations for the Sona. As you know, we want to secure the House of Representatives – being the venue for the 2025 Sona,” he said.
“(PSC), PNP, MMDA (Metropolitan Manila Development Authority) – they are all included because of the traffic management in and outside Congress. So it’s a joint collaboration – all the security,” Velasco stressed.
“Of course, our coordinator is our Sergeant-at-Arms General Napoleon Taas,” he added.