Such a grim scenario takes off from the Netflix TV series in 2016-2019 showing how a minor official chosen as “designated survivor” grappled with the awesome demands of the US presidency after an attack on the night of his State of the Union Address killed the Chief Executive and most of the Cabinet members.

Most Filipinos may not see a possible local coup-like situation raising the need for a “Designated Survivor” because there is no such animal in our political jungle. The Philippine Constitution itself does not explicitly provide for one.

Article VII of the Charter draws instead a line of succession in case the President (or his immediate replacement) dies, resigns, is himself permanently disabled, or removed from office.

Section 8 says: “In case of death, permanent disability, removal from office, or resignation of the President, the Vice President shall become the President to serve the unexpired term. In case of death, permanent disability, removal from office, or resignation of both the President and Vice President, the President of the Senate or, in case of his inability, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, shall then act as President until the President or Vice President shall have been elected and qualified.”

The line of succession stops with the Speaker. What if all the three officials following the President in the line also die or are totally incapacitated? The Constitution does not say specifically who must succeed the Speaker if he himself dies or is unable to function.

* * *

WHEN Vice President Sara Duterte described herself days ago as the “designated survivor” (as in the US model) and disclosed her plan not to attend the SONA, people with a nose for intrigue smelled a possible plot for a power grab or such violent scenario coming up.

It does not help that Inday Sara’s pronouncement came amid a seeming falling out between the Marcos and the Duterte camps, that the military/police sector was being urged by partisans to rise against the administration, and opposition groups had been reportedly spoiling for protest rallies.

Meanwhile, for added effect, surveys are being flashed in the background claiming that the Vice President’s popularity continues to stay above that of the President in the face of dwindling jobs and earnings, rising prices and runaway corruption.

There is scattered concern that when we gather under one roof (of the Batasan) the top officials of the land, not to mention foreign guests, we may be creating a setting for a coup d’etat, selective kidnapping or assassination, and a variety of violent actions that we may not be able to manage.

It is important optics, therefore, that all three officials in the line of succession after the President – especially Vice President Inday Sara – be seen convivially together at the Batasan plenary hall for the SONA.

* * *

THERE have been draft bills in the Congress, meanwhile, to provide a “designated successor” similar in intent to what the US has – as part of a contingency plan to ensure there is always somebody in a longer line of presidential successors.

There has been no legislative follow-through. In the case of the VP, there is actually no need for a law making her the successor to the President if the latter dies or is permanently incapacitated. That is already provided in the Constitution.

But the madlang pipol and whoever are still left of the coopted mainstream media may want to keep watching how the dynasties define the concept of a designated “survivor” or “successor” to include their young kin already being prepared to inherit the earth.

There are also occasions in the US, btw, when top officials gather in one place. The presidential inauguration, State of the Union Address, and the opening of the joint session of the Congress make the Capitol an all-in target for terrorists and assorted plotters.

Wikipedia: “The US Presidential Succession Act refers to officers beyond the Vice President acting as president rather than becoming president when filling a vacancy. The Cabinet has 15 members, of which the Secretary of State is highest and fourth in line (after the Senate president pro tempore); the other Cabinet secretaries follow in the order of when their departments (or the department of which their department is the successor) were created.”

In da Pilipins, the cost of keeping a designated survivor (or successor) in a safe, well-provided place while waiting for the president to die or be killed may be quite prohibitive, if not morbid.

The government dependent on taxes can afford that high maintenance cost only if it cuts executive and legislative corruption by 30 percent – meaning di talaga kaya.

Then there is the tougher problem of convincing the wife of a terminally ill or clinically dead President to yield the pomp, power and pelf that will vanish with his demise.

Back to Inday Sara, we beg her to attend the SONA as a dutiful Vice President. Her quote on the matter in English-Bisaya mix can stand as a her last word on the matter of her being the “designated survivor”:

“It wasn’t a joke. It wasn’t a bomb threat. For me, if you don’t understand the first time, I don’t think you deserve an explanation.”