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Vice President Sara Duterte will be a no-show at President Marcos’ State of the Nation Address (SONA) this Monday, July 28, as she chose to participate in a “Free Duterte Rally” with the supporters of her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, and their family in South Korea on Sunday.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte (Mark Balmores/MANILA BULLETIN)
“Wala tayong batas na nagsasabi tungkulin ng mga Pilipino ang makinig sa Presidente. Ang nasa batas natin nakalagay, tungkulin ng presidente ang magbigay sa atin, mga Pilipino, kung ano yung estado ng ating bansa (We have no law that says Filipinos are obliged to listen to the President. What’s in our law is that the President must report to the Filipinos the state of our country),” Duterte said in an interview in The Hague on July 21.
“Siya yung may tungkulin, tayo walang tungkulin makinig (He has that obligation, we don’t). We have the rights to listen or to not listen. There is no law mandating us to listen to,” she insisted.
The official will be flying back home on Monday, the day of Marcos’ SONA.
This isn’t the first time she skipped the President’s annual address to the nation as she also did not attend last year’s SONA, saying in jest that she has appointed herself as the “designated survivor.”
Last month, while in Australia for another rally, Duterte said she doesn’t think Marcos will say anything substantial in his SONA.
“I do not intend to attend the State of the Nation Address of President Marcos since I don’t think he will be providing anything substantial about our country,” the official stated while in Australia on June 22.
Duterte added that she would rather spend her time with the Filipino community.
“And it would be best to spend that time with the Filipino community discussing what we can do for the country and to improve the country,” she added.
The “Free Duterte Rally,” organized by the former president’s supporters in South Korea, was held on Sunday at the Marronnier Park in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
The Vice President earlier said she will try, as much as possible, to attend such rallies that call for the release of her father from detention.
Another rally in Kuwait is scheduled for next month.
The Vice President was in The Hague, Netherlands from July 5 to July 23 to visit her father, who was arrested in Manila but extradited to The Hague based on the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) crimes against humanity of charges.
