Vice President Sara Duterte
TheMindanaoToday.com | VP Sara Duterte confirms she will skip SONA for the second time
Vice President Sara Duterte has confirmed she will not be attending President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 28, 2025—marking the second year in a row she will skip the annual event.
“Hindi. During the SONA, I’ll be traveling back to the Philippines. It’s the travel date from Korea,” Duterte told reporters during a media interview on July 9 at The Hague, Netherlands.
She is scheduled to fly back to the Philippines on the same day as the SONA, after attending a Filipino community gathering in South Korea on July 27, where she was invited to speak.
“We really try to accommodate [invitations] so that we can personally thank everyone,” Duterte explained, saying she wanted to express gratitude to overseas Filipinos.
In 2024, a month after stepping down as Education Secretary, Duterte also skipped the SONA, claiming at the time she was the “designated survivor.”
The Vice President has made several overseas visits recently, often to meet with Filipinos abroad and thank them for their continued support—especially amid international developments involving her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, who is facing proceedings at The Hague.
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