Designated survivor

If the statement had been given by someone other than a Duterte, it would have been quickly dismissed as a joke.

But because it was the daughter of Rodrigo Duterte who described herself as the “designated survivor,” people – including officials of the Philippine National Police – were not amused.

Thanks to the TV series, there’s heightened public awareness of what a designated survivor is, or what having one implies. In the US, this is a person picked by the president to take over in case of a mass-casualty event that kills him and those in the presidential line of succession. The designated survivor is usually a Cabinet member.

When there’s a threat of a mass-casualty event, both the US Senate and House of Representatives also pick one designated survivor from each political party.

The PNP saw nothing funny about Vice President Sara Duterte’s statement that she would not be attending President Marcos’ third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 22 at the Batasang Pambansa, and that she was naming herself the designated survivor.

Considering the persistent threats of destabilization and calls from her relatives for BBM’s ouster, security forces reportedly found it prudent to enhance the already tight security for the SONA.

Rodrigo Duterte, after all, may have a wicked sense of humor, but he has shown that when he promises to kill, it’s no hyperbole; you dismiss it as a joke at your own risk. When he picks a fight, he doesn’t stop at publicly issuing disparaging remarks; he actively uses everything in his power to crush the object of his ire.

His children have inherited his predilection for insulting remarks. The difference between him and his daughter is that he publicly names (and tries to shame) the person who has incurred his displeasure; the VP lacks the intestinal fortitude to name names, preferring snide remarks that aren’t exactly to whom it may concern, since her foes are well known.

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In the light of her latest remark, some congressmen advised the VP to minimize TV binge-watching.

People wondered whether it was really a case of the VP, with more time on her hands these days as she prepares to leave the Department of Education and National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), simply watching too much Netflix and the series “Designated Survivor.”

Or was that a Freudian slip, reflecting a wish to annihilate everyone who will attend the SONA, leaving her as the survivor?

I know people so frustrated with the poisoned state of Philippine politics they wouldn’t mind that violent movie scenario for the SONA, which is delivered at the joint opening session of Congress.

The joking comment when such wishes are aired is that those who will be annihilated will be replaced ASAP by their relatives even before the pa-siyam prayers are over, and the nation will find itself back to its sorry political state, and perhaps worse.

Also, the 2,000 guests expected at the SONA – the biggest in attendance, according to the House organizers – will include a large number of people who are not politicians or related to politicians: the diplomatic corps, businessmen, civic leaders.

Since VP Sara has little to lose at this point, it might be better for her to just say what’s really on her mind – that she’s skipping the SONA because she’s sick... of the hypocritical “plastic” moments with backstabbers and “users” in the Marcos 2.0 administration. As per protocol, she will have to be seated (horrors) near the first lady and endure the sight of the tambaloslos.

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Daughterte surely knows she need not anoint herself as the designated survivor; under the Constitution, the VP automatically takes over in case the president dies or is incapacitated from carrying out the duties of the office.

There was no comment from her office when asked by journalists about what she meant exactly. There was no explanation, no apology for a joke that is alarmist, considering that on Nov. 13, 2007, a bomb was set off at the south wing parking lot of the Batasan, killing Basilan congressman Wahab Akbar and four other people. A sixth victim, who died weeks later from complications arising from multiple injuries, was a staff member of then Negros Oriental congressman Pryde Henry Teves, who himself was among those seriously wounded in the blast, reportedly caused by a bomb planted in a motorcycle and set off with a cell phone. Two other Teves staffers were among the fatalities.

Teves, co-defendant of his brother Arnolfo Teves in the 2023 massacre that killed Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo, was not the target. Suspects linked to Akbar’s rivals, former Basilan congressman Gerry Salapuddin and former Anak Mindanao congressman Mujiv Hataman, were arrested. One was convicted in 2017 and sentenced to life without parole. Salapuddin and Hataman, the accused masterminds, were cleared.

So any hint of a mass-casualty event occurring at the Batasan is no joking matter.

At the airport, travelers have been barred from boarding their flight and seen themselves facing criminal indictment for making a bomb joke.

There’s no law, however, against joking about mass annihilation of the political leadership. Still, the fact alone that the VP is the spare tire for the presidency should keep Daughterte from making jokes about being the designated survivor.

Yes, it was meant as a joke – in the same vein as her snide advice to an unnamed tambaloslos to rein in his ambition, and the videos she posted about being exploited by users, and being stabbed in the neck.

Since that tambaloslos joke, the VP has lost P650 million in secret funds along with her sky-high ratings, lost favor with BBM’s closest adviser the first lady, and lost the education and NTF-ELCAC posts.

She should hope that in her latest remark, the joke won’t be on her.