Should Philippines’ Marcos be ‘on guard’ as Sara Duterte is sworn in early, meets China envoy?

Name: Sara Duterte sworn in early as vice-president of the Philippines
Uploaded: 2022-06-20T11:00:22.000Z
Duration: 2 min 5 s
Description: Sara Duterte sworn in early as vice-president of the Philippines

The VP-elect’s move to take her oath 11 days early, in a ceremony attended by diplomats including China’s ambassador, shows she remains a ‘force’ beyond her office, analysts say

It comes as President-elect Marcos still faces some Supreme Court cases that may nullify his participation in the election, while some observers have said the alliance between the two looks ‘quite fragile’

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Philippine VP-elect Sara Duterte at her inauguration ceremony in Davao City. Photo: EPA-EFE/Presidential Photographers Division

Raissa Robles

Published: 7:00pm, 20 Jun 2022Updated: 7:16pm, 20 Jun 2022

Sara Duterte-Carpio’s decision to be sworn in as vice-president almost two weeks early on Sunday, in a ceremony attended by several diplomats including one from China, shows she holds influence beyond the trappings of her political office, analysts said.

Under the 1987 constitution, the vice-president’s function is to serve as an immediate successor if the president dies or becomes incapacitated during the six-year tenure, which always ends at 12pm on June 30.

Because of this, the vice-president is traditionally sworn in minutes “before the president-elect, who takes the oath as close to noon as possible”, historian Manolo Quezon said.

He regarded Duterte-Carpio’s decision to break protocol by taking her oath 11 days early as “a statement … a reminder she is a (political) force”.

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Sara Duterte sworn in early as vice-president of the Philippines

In an indication of her clout, the two-hour ceremony in Davao City was attended by a number of unnamed foreign envoys, including Chinese ambassador Huang Xilian, who had met Duterte-Carpio the day before.