Sara Duterte on skipping Marcos Jr's SONA: I don't think he will be providing anything substantial

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte lead the Basic Education Report 2024 at the Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City on January 25, 2024. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File

Vice President Sara Duterte confirmed she will not attend President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s fourth State of the Nation Address on July 28.

“I do not intend to attend the State of the Nation Address of President Marcos since I don’t think he will be providing anything substantial about our country,” she said in an interview in Melbourne, Australia on June 22.

Instead of attending, Duterte said she would rather spend her time with the Filipino community.

“And it would be best to spend that time with the Filipino community discussing what we can do for the country and to improve the country,” she added.

House Secretary General Reginald Velasco said Thursday that the House received a letter from the Office of the Vice President declining the invitation for the President’s fourth SONA.

It will be the second time that Duterte will skip Marcos Jr.’s SONA following the fallout between the Marcoses and the Dutertes.

In 2024, the second-in-command also did not attend the president’s third SONA a month after resigning as education secretary, saying that she was appointing herself as the “designated survivor.”