Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 9) — President Rodrigo Duterte will lead the Philippines’ 119th Independence Day celebration with Vice President Leni Robredo in attendance, officials said.
However, the traditional vin d’honneur scheduled on Monday has been cancelled, according to Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella.
“After the Rizal Park flag-raising activity, on the same day, the President will attend to matters pertaining Mindanao,” Abella said in a statement.
Relations have been lukewarm between the country’s top two leaders, who were last seen together on March 2017 at the graduation rites of the Philippine Military Academy.
President Duterte and Vice President Robredo were sworn in on June 30, 2016, and Monday’s rites at the Rizal Monument in Luneta Park in Manila will be their first Independence Day celebration in office. This also comes as government troops attempt to crush the Maute terror group in Marawi City, some 1,490 kilometers south of the monument. The Rizal Monument is designated as Kilometer Zero.
“Ang magiging panauhin po natin dito ay si Presidente Duterte [Our primary guest will be President Duterte],” National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) chairman Rene Escalante said in a press briefing Thursday.
After arrival honors at 8:00 a.m., the President leads the raising of the Philippine flag.
When asked if Robredo will attend, Escalante confirmed this.”She will be joining the flag-raising in Luneta… Magkasama po sila [They will be together],” he said.
Under NHCP protocol, the raising of the flag is led by the President, with assistance from other officials. “The highest official leads assisted by other officials,” NHCP director for administration Carminda Arevalo told CNN Philippines on Friday.
Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Chief General Eduardo Ano will accompany Duterte in laying the wreath in front of the Rizal monument.
Robredo has been a vocal critic of the Duterte administration’s war on drugs, which has seen more than 3,000 deaths of alleged drug pushers and addicts since it was launched a year ago.
However, she has also said she respects his decision to declare martial law in Mindanao. Military rule throughout Mindanao was declared on May 23 as the Maute group, which has ties to the extremist ISIS, attacked Marawi City, the capital of Lanao del Sur province.
Other government officials are expected to lead flag-raising ceremonies across the country on June 12, the NHCP said.
Senator Panfilo Lacson accompanied by Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo, will oversee the celebration at the Aguinaldo Shrine in Kawit, Cavite, the birthplace of Philippine independence. Other flag-raising ceremonies are to be led by Senator Loren Legarda in Barasoain Church in Malolos, Bulacan; Supreme Court Associate Justice Mariano del Castillo at the Bonifacio Monument, Caloocan; Senator Sonny Angara at the Pinaglabanan Shrine, San Juan; Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno in Calamba, Laguna; Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre in Baguio; Philippine Veterans Affairs Office Administrator Ernesto Carolina in North Cemetery, Manila; and Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Assistant Secretary Rolando Asuncion at the Pamintuan Mansion in Angeles City, Pampanga,
