FILE PHOTO: Vice President Sara Duterte. SCREENGRAB FROM DEPED PHILIPPINES FACEBOOK PAGE
MANILA, Philippines — 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.
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“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,” he added.
Gonzales was referring to the Netflix series “Designated Survivor” about a minor US Cabinet official who became US president after a deadly bombing killed other members of the US line of succession during the State of the Union address.
The Netflix series took off from a real position dating back to the Cold War in the 1950s given to a member of the US Cabinet or a top government official in the line of presidential succession.
As the Vice President, Duterte is Mr. Marcos’ direct successor in the constitutional line of succession, followed by the Senate President and the House Speaker.
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For former Sen. Panfilo Lacson, however, the Constitution does mandate “designated survivors,” but Congress still needs to pass legislation on presidential succession law.
Citing Article VII of the Constitution, which says “Congress shall pass a law where it defines who the Acting President will be, in case the line of three successors is gone,” Lacson filed Senate Bill No. 982 in August 2019 for the purpose but has not passed.
Also offended by the Vice President’s gaffe, Isabela Rep. Inno Dy V, 1-Rider party list Rep. Rodge Gutierrez, Davao Oriental Rep. Cheeno Miguel Almario, La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega V, Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, Ako Bicol party list Rep. Jil Bongalon, and Zambales Rep. Jay Khonghun all condemned Duterte for not being more prudent with her words.