Sara to skip SONA, attend Filipino gathering in SoKor

Vice President Sara Duterte is scheduled to visit South Korea on 27 July to attend an event organized by the Filipino community.

“There is a Filipino community event already confirmed on 27 July in South Korea. It's a Filipino community program. They organized it, and we were invited as speakers,” Duterte told reporters during an ambush interview in The Hague, Netherlands, on Wednesday.

The Vice President said she accepted the invitation to personally thank Filipinos in South Korea for their continued support.

“We confirmed on the schedule because I wanted to thank the Filipino community as well in South Korea,” she said.

“Personally, thank them. I've always been thanking, and I've always expressed my gratitude to the Filipino communities worldwide. But when we receive invitations, we really try to accommodate it so that we can personally thank everyone,” she added.

Duterte said she will return to the Philippines on 28 July, the same day as President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).

“During the SONA, I'll be traveling back to the Philippines. It's the travel date from Korea,” she said.

The Vice President is currently abroad to visit her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, who is detained at the International Criminal Court in The Hague over alleged crimes against humanity linked to drug war killings during his presidency.

Duterte previously confirmed she would skip Marcos’ SONA, citing a lack of substance in the President’s messaging.