The Vice-President of the Republic of the Philippines has a disturbing message to the nation. Sara Duterte recently said that she would not be attending the SONA of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr., but instead she would appoint herself as the “designated survivor,” but did not elaborate.
But even if it was a joke to project herself as a witty person (which she ain’t), it was utterly crass, tasteless, and insensitive. VP Sara should not have said those words while the rest of the Marcos administration officials would be in attendance for the President’s SONA.
First of all, she cannot appoint herself just like that. She reminds many of us about Ninoy Aquino’s glaring absence on the day of the Plaza Miranda bombing. The rest of the Liberal Party bets were there but him.
So just like Sara, did Ninoy know something they didn’t that day? Sara should be interrogated by the police because she might be in the know. If the guy who walks in the airport jokes about having a bomb in his bag, and is immediately escorted away and held for thorough questioning, then why not this one?
She’s probably been glued to the tube watching Kiefer Sutherland’s Designated Survivor series on Netflix instead of working, and now she hallucinates to be the next in line of succession should anything happen to the President, for which she really is, but she should not have stated the obvious in a tasteless manner from a joke.
The Designated Survivor concept of succession pertains to a person in the presidential line of succession who is kept far from the rest of the pack comprising the government bureaucracy in the event something catastrophic, like a terrorist attack, happens.
As such, the designation of a survivor is done to prevent a headless government from happening, like a constitutional vacuum in leadership, thus safeguarding and assuring the continuity of the presidency should the President, the Vice-President, and others in the line of succession like the Senate President, and the Speaker of the House perish.
Ideally, the designated survivor must be one without much political agenda, say, as in the TV series, an undersecretary. If you ask me, I know many good friends with that title, and they would definitely be performing much better in running the country than the one who lusts for the presidency.
In Sara’s case, she had to say that to justify her boycotting the SONA because she could be seated right next to the First Lady Lisa Araneta Marcos.
Sara Duterte should be made to explain to the police lest she be branded as a designated traitor or a fifth columnist.
Surely she doesn’t want to be branded as another designated traitor like the one who was conspicuously absent during the LP miting de avance at Plaza Miranda that fateful day in 1971.
The President has been travelling to the countryside
As expected, the critics of President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. can’t seem to make up their so-called minds.
When many times the President has travelled to other lands, and even though he has brought home the bacon in the form of huge economic packages for the country, they say it’s simply a junket.
But now that the President has travelled to many regions in the country giving áyudas’ and financial assistance to many of our countrymen like farmers, fishermen and the common townspeople, they are still angry because all he does is give away áyudas.’
For example, the President’s performance ratings have risen in terms of providing assistance to our farmers which includes the sale of their products – from an approval rate of 38% in March to 46% in June with a +8 increase.
As an agricultural country, the President knows that the continuing support for our farmers is key to developing the countryside and to ensure that our crops are well under constant watch, as help is always ready for the farmers.
The same goes for the other assistance from the Marcos administration. Our farmers have received from the President P10,000 each as financial assistance through the Presidential Assistance to Farmers, Fisherfolks, and their Families Program. So what do we say to this?
There is absolutely nothing good for the President and his administration for them, as there is absolutely nothing wrong for the Dutertes even if they plan to sabotage the current administration so they could get back their lost glory and influence.
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Random Memorandum: In 2021, for Duterte’s final SONA, only 350 guests were allowed in the session hall. Each had to show their vaccination cards and a negative RT-PCR test result. In the building, everyone wore facemasks and kept their distances from each other.
-o0o-
Factoid: On September 18, 2007, Congressman Rodolfo Valencia filed House Bill No. 2594 declaring Gen. Miguel Malvar as the second Philippine President, alleging that it is erroneous to consider Manuel L. Quezon as the second President. In October 2011, Vice-President Jejomar C. Binay sought the help of historians for the purpose of recognizing Malvar as the rightful second President of the Philippines.
(Leslie Bocobo is a former Special Assistant to the Secretary at the Office of the Press Secretary, Malacanang, and a former Public Affairs Director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources)
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