00:00For the first time, Vice President Sara Duterte will not travel to the area of President Bongbong Marcos
00:07while he is appointing his own Designated Survivor.
00:12In America, he is the one who becomes the President if something happens to the President and other officials in a gathering,
00:19but is there really such a thing in the Philippines?
00:22Maris Umali has the story.
00:23In the first State of the Nation Address of the President, along with the Vice President,
00:32the camera confirmed that Vice President Sara Duterte was invited to the area of President Bongbong Marcos on July 22.
00:39But when we asked him if he will go,
00:46No, I will not attend the area of President Bongbong Marcos.
00:49I am appointing myself as the Designated Survivor.
00:53In the concept of the Designated Survivor, like in America,
00:57aside from a gathering of the President and other officials in the line of succession of the President,
01:03in case there is an attack that will kill those there, he can serve as the interim President.
01:09But here in the Philippines, there is no such thing.
01:12According to the former Supreme Court Associate Justice Vicente Mendoza,
01:15there is no provision in the Constitution that requires a Designated Survivor.
01:20Sometimes, the Designated Survivor Bill was passed in 2019 by former Senator Panfilo Lacson.
01:26But regardless of the law,
01:27one of the violators of the 1987 Constitution said that the former Supreme Court Associate Justice Adolf Azguna
01:34said that there is nothing wrong with this.
01:36Moreover, there is still no law that will determine who will be removed from the line of succession of the President,
01:44Senate President, and House Speaker.
01:46The Vice President doesn't have to be there.
01:49She doesn't have a role there.
01:51So what she's doing is right.
01:53She will not stay there so that if something happens to them,
01:56the President will be killed.
01:58But according to House Secretary General Reginald Velasco,
02:01they don't see any threat in the coming zone.
02:04I think personally,
02:06it's just a joke.
02:09It's just a joke.
02:11You know their family, right? They like to joke.
02:16But of course, the reaction of our security officials might be different, right?
02:22So far, we haven't heard anything that because of that, we have to do additional security.
02:30House Secretary General Velasco added that they are anticipating everything that might happen in the zone.
02:36Almost every day, their security team and the Presidential Security Command
02:42to assess the security situation and find out what might happen here.
02:46According to the House Secretary General,
02:48this is the first time that a Vice President will not be brought to the President's zone.
02:55I don't know if the Vice President is absent.
02:59Based on our records, it's not the first time.
03:05In a statement, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said
03:09that it's the decision of a public official if he will be brought or not.
03:12But the President's zone is an important occasion to think about the country's progress,
03:17to solve the challenges, and to lay out the plans for the future.
03:21It's only right for the people to see the unity of their leaders for their well-being.
03:26We listened to the reaction of Vice President Duterte.
03:30For GMA Integrated News, I'm Maris Umali for 24 Hours.
03:42For GMA Integrated News, I'm Maris Umali for 24 Hours.
Comments