Pimentel brushes off VP Duterte’s ‘designated survivor’ remarks

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III on Sunday said he was unconcerned over Vice President Sara Duterte appointing herself as the "designated survivor.”

“Parang  lately, naging palabiro si Vice President Sara. Nung nag resign na siya  from all other government postions niya except being vice president,  parang siguro naging informal na yung pakiramdam niya. Hindi nga lang  maganda in the context of [the upcoming State of the Nation  Address],” Pimentel said in an a interview in Super Radyo DzBB.

(Vice President Sara seems to be joking around lately. When she resigned from all her other government positions except vice president, she became informal. However, this is misplaced in the context of the  upcoming SONA.)

Duterte announced on July 11 that she would not attend the upcoming SONA on July 22. 

Pimentel said Duterte’s "designated survivor" pronouncement came from a television series in which a Cabinet official becomes the US president after a bombing killed everyone during the State of the Union Address.

“Hindi na niya kailangan kasing sabihin iyon kasi siya naman yung designated successor talaga,” Pimentel added.

(She does not need to say that since she is the designated successor.)

Other senators also dismissed Duterte's remarks, saying that the Vice President was making light of her excuse to skip the SONA. 

Under the 1987 Philippine Consitution, if the president died or has become permanently disabled, the vice president shall become president.

If the vice president cannot assume the office, the  Senate President would become president, with the House Speaker next in line.

In a statement, Pimentel said Duterte’s joke was “inappropriate” and would not affect the attendees of the SONA.

Pimentel also said he proposed a measure extending the designated successor line should the vice president, Senate president, and House speaker be unable to assume the office.

The bill suggests that the secretary of the  Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of the Interior and Local  Government, and the Department of National Defense be included in the succession.

"If both the President and the Vice President are wiped out, it's the Senate President. If all three are wiped out, it's the Speaker of the House. But if all four are wiped out at the same time, and no one can act as President, there needs to be a law. That's why I have a proposed law to address that scenario,” Pimentel said. — DVM, GMA Integrated News