VP Sara to skip BBM’s SONA anew

National

FOR the second straight year, Vice President Sara Duterte will be skipping the State of the Nation Address of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Duterte has formally notified the House of Representatives that she will not be attending Marcos’ upcoming SONA scheduled for July 28.

Despite her stated absence, House Secretary General Reginald Velasco clarified that arrangements remain in place should the Vice President reconsider.

“There will still be a reserved seat for her at the center of the VIP gallery in the House plenary, as well as a designated holding room,” Velasco said in a Philstar report. “We are not ruling out the possibility of her attendance.”

Duterte also skipped last year’s SONA, drawing criticism after she referred to herself as a “designated survivor.”

Cracks in the Alliance

The once-strong political partnership between Marcos and Duterte, which played a significant role in their 2022 electoral victory, has deteriorated since 2023. The rift deepened following the arrest of Duterte’s father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, on March 11. He was taken into custody and turned over to the International Criminal Court over allegations of crimes against humanity tied to his controversial anti-drug campaign, which resulted in over 6,000 deaths.

Public Protest and Human Rights Concerns

In the lead-up to Marcos’ SONA, progressive group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) is organizing mass protests to mark his third year in office.

The group emphasized ongoing human rights issues, citing a recent report from United Nations special rapporteur Irene Khan, who assessed that the Philippine government’s initiatives have so far failed to significantly improve the state of freedom of expression in the country.

Raymond Palatino, the secretary general of Bayan, stated that Khan's report mirrored the calls from media and civil society organizations to unblock websites, free detained journalists, reform or abolish outdated laws, and put an end to red-tagging practices.

He also criticized Marcos for his continued support of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, and for failing to address what Bayan describes as repressive policies inherited from the Duterte administration.

“While President Marcos may be trying to distance himself politically from Duterte, he has not taken any meaningful steps to dismantle the institutional mechanisms of repression implemented under the previous administration,” Palatino said.(Rosemarie Fe Singson, PIT Comm. Intern)