It is Vice President Sara Duterte’s choice whether or not to attend President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.’s fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) next month, Malacañang said Friday.

In a media briefing, Presidential Communications Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro noted that the Vice President also skipped the President’s previous SONA.

“Last year, hindi rin naman po siya dumating. At sa ating pagkakaalam, siya po ay um-attend sa isang kasalan. So kung hindi po siya a-attend ngayon, kahit siya po ay inimbita bilang Bise Presidente, again, choice niya po iyon (Last year, she also did not attend. To our knowledge, she was attending a wedding. So if she does not attend this time, even though she was invited as Vice President, again, that is her choice),” she said.

Castro emphasized that the Executive Department should not be blamed if the Vice President misses the President’s message.

“At kung hindi niya po maririnig ang mga programa at kung ano po ang naging trabaho ng gobyerno at ni Pangulong Marcos Jr., hindi po siguro natin kasalanan iyon. It's her choice (And if she chooses not to hear about the government’s programs and the work done by President Marcos Jr., then that’s probably not our fault. It’s her choice),” she said.

Citing a notice sent to the House leadership, House Secretary General Reginald Velasco said Vice President Duterte has expressed her intention to skip President Marcos’s fourth SONA on 28 July.

Velasco, however, noted that a reserved seat and designated holding room will be prepared should she change her mind.

“We are not excluding the possibility that she will attend. There will be a seat reserved for her at the center of the House plenary gallery, the VIP gallery,” Velasco said.