Vice President Sara Duterte has reiterated that she will skip President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s upcoming State of the Nation Address (SONA), but vowed to read the speech to scrutinize what she called “flattery” and “deception.”
Speaking before members of the Filipino community during a rally in Seoul, South Korea, Duterte sharply criticized the President’s leadership—particularly his flood-control initiatives, foreign policy direction, and budget priorities. She expressed regret for once believing in the President’s promise to improve the Philippines.
“I thought… what he wanted was a more beautiful Philippines,” she said in Filipino. “But I don’t understand why he does not have the same view when it comes to what needs to be done for the country.”
She admitted avoiding the SONA broadcast due to how it affects her emotionally. “Sometimes, it goes past irritation. Sometimes it’s anger. You just want to break the screen of your phone,” she said. Still, she added, “We need to read [the SONA] because we need to know what kinds of flattery are being said to the public. What sort of deception.”
The Vice President took aim at flood-control projects, questioning their necessity given Marcos’ past statement describing floods as the country’s “new normal.”
“If that’s the case, why are there so many flood-control projects? Billions and billions,” she asked.
She also criticized how the national budget is allegedly parceled out among lawmakers and misdirected toward irrelevant or self-serving projects. Citing her former stint as Education Secretary, Duterte claimed that the school building budget she signed off on was “divided between several congressmen.”
“That really made me think, was I wrong? Or did they just get used to that sort of process?” she said.
On foreign affairs, Duterte accused the Marcos administration of veering away from the Constitution’s policy of neutrality. “What we are seeing is the militarization of our country,” she warned, referring to the growing presence of American military and defense investments in the Philippines.
She also cited a remark from U.S. President Donald Trump during Marcos’ recent state visit: “The country previously tilted towards China… and is now tilting towards the United States.”
The Vice President has maintained since June that she will not attend the SONA, citing no legal requirement to be present. Her trip to South Korea, she said, was to personally thank the Filipino community. She also announced plans to visit Kuwait next, although no date has been set.
