By Junex Doronio
MANILA — Short of saying that it was just a political stunt, University of Santo Tomas (UST) professor Froilan Calilung on Saturday (13 July 2024) said Vice President Sara Duterte’s remark that she has appointed herself as the government’s “designated survivor” when she decided to skip President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s third State of the Nation Address (SONA) should not be taken seriously.
“I don’t think the vice president… will wish anything wrong to happen to our public officials,” Calilung said when asked during the Saturday News Forum at Dapo Restaurant in Quezon City.
He added: “I think hindi ito ‘yung konteksto at uri ng pagkatao na mayroon tayo bilang mga Pilipino.”
On Thursday (11 July 2024), VP Sara said in an interview that she would not attend the SONA, adding that “I am appointing myself as the designated survivor.”
While VP Sara did not expound on her statement, a hit television series titled, “Designated Survivor”, which has US and South Korean versions, took off from a scene of the respective country’s President delivering his state address when bombs suddenly detonated and destroyed the entire venue killing many attendees, that included the president and public officials in the line of succession.
Calilung noted that while VP Sara’s presence is not necessary during the SONA, “it creates a great deal of political drama.”
“I think it will try to steal the [spotlight] away from the policies, the programs, and the good things that the government tried to accomplish because it might, sort of, be overshadowed by the vice president not attending the event,” the UST political science professor said.
(el Amigo/mnm)
