Vice President Sara Duterte said on Sunday she would skip President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address (SoNA) again. She did not mince words about why.
Speaking before overseas Filipino workers in Seoul, South Korea, Duterte said tuning in to the President’s SoNA would only irritate her and waste her smartphone’s data.
“It’s a waste of data. I don’t even want to watch. Honestly, I get triggered when I hear him. Sometimes, it goes beyond irritation — sometimes I get angry. You’d feel like smashing your phone screen,” she said onstage at Marronnier Park in Jongno-gu.
In what may be considered as her own SoNA, Duterte also criticized Marcos for what she described as a lack of an independent foreign policy, accusing him of siding too closely with the United States.
“This isn’t right. It’s in our Constitution that we shouldn’t lean toward any foreign power. But what are we seeing now? We’re seeing the militarization of the country — the entry of Americans into various areas and the building of weapons factories here,” she said.
Marcos recently revealed plans during his US trip to support the establishment of a US ammunition production facility in Subic, Zambales. He said this would align with the Philippines’ Self-Reliant Defense Program.
Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel “Babe” Romualdez backed the plan, calling it a move that would benefit both defense and economic cooperation between the two nations.
Duterte cited US President Donald Trump, claiming he once said: “They tilted towards China and now it is tilting towards the US.”
Marcos and Trump previously discussed trade agreements that reportedly resulted in a 19 percent tariff on Philippine exports to the US and zero tariffs on US car, soy, wheat, and pharmaceutical imports to the Philippines.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump also mentioned, “In addition, we will work together militarily.” However, Malacañang has yet to confirm any details about a military deal between the two countries.
“I don’t know if he notices how inconsistent he is,” Duterte said. “He says one thing now, and something else the following week — while the country continues to deteriorate.”
‘Wrong policies’
Duterte urged Filipinos to speak up against what she called the administration’s misguided policies. “You need to correct this. You can’t just tell us to endure it or say ‘this is the new normal.’ You can’t say there’s nothing we can do,” she added.
She was referring to President Marcos’s recent comments after a series of typhoons hit the country, where he remarked that climate disasters are now the “new normal.”
“It is not an extraordinary situation anymore. This is the new normal. This is now our life, no matter what we do,” Marcos said in a briefing last week.
The Vice President also compared the Philippines to countries she had visited — South Korea, the Netherlands, Australia and Japan — and lamented how far behind the nation is.
“The Philippines can’t even compare to these countries. There’s no one truly committed to helping the nation rise. We can’t just settle for ‘okay na yan.’ This is the country our children will inherit. I don’t want to leave behind a Philippines that’s chaotic — where kids can’t finish school and people have no job opportunities,” she said.
Duterte also claimed that the country is buried in debt and that Marcos’ positive reports don’t reflect the reality on the ground.
“That’s what we need to say to the person delivering the SoNA and his clappers there. Let’s tell him — we don’t feel anything from his report. Whatever numbers they give, we don’t see them in our communities. We deserve better,” she said.
Since 2023, Duterte has skipped the President’s annual address, as tensions between her and Marcos have continued to escalate.