VICE President Sara Duterte on Monday laughed off criticisms she has been drawing for her frequent foreign trips, saying the allegation that she is habitually absent from work is baseless because she has been meeting with Filipinos abroad who are “frustrated” with the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“Sa totoo lang, ‘di naman ako nagta-travel dahil gusto ko mag-travel (The truth is I don’t travel just because I want to),” she told reporters in Davao City. “Lumalabas ako ng bansa dahil frustrated na ang Filipino community sa abroad sa nangyayari dito sa ating bayan (I go overseas because the Filipino communities abroad are frustrated because of what’s happening in our country).”
The Vice President has been drawing heavy flak for her frequent foreign trips, especially from Palace spokesman Claire Castro, who has repeatedly reminded Duterte of her duties and responsibilities as the second-highest elected official of the country.
Duterte has been in and out of the country ever since her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, was detained in March by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Netherlands, where he is facing trial for alleged crimes against humanity for his bloody war on drugs.
Rep. Antonio Tinio (PL, ACT) of the militant Makabayan bloc has said that on top of the House of Representatives’ efforts to look into how Duterte used her confidential funds during the budget deliberation, congressmen would also surely continue to “hound” the Vice President for her “paglalamyerda” (strolling).
Duterte brushed aside the criticisms, saying those who are accusing her of neglecting her duties are just bashers. “Habitual absence saan? Hindi ko alam kung ano ang pinagsasabi nila na habitual absence (Habitual absence where? I don’t know what they mean by habitual absence)” she said.
“As I said, ito nanaman yung style ng mga tao na anti-Duterte na nagbibigay lang ng akusasyon kung saan-saan at wala namang basehan, walang ebidensya at hindi na lang nila sina-submit o tinataas sa tamang forum or sa tamang venue ang kanilang akusasyon (This is the style of people who are anti-Duterte who are throwing accusations that are baseless, bereft of evidence. Why don’t they just submit or bring their allegations to the proper forum or venue?)” she said.
The Vice President also said lawmakers who are questioning her personal trips should make public their travel records.
Office of the Vice President (OVP) spokesman Ruth Castelo has assured the public that the Vice President is doing her job despite not being seen in public.
The Vice President did not attend the President’s fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) last July 28, the same day she was scheduled to return to the country from South Korea where she met with her supporters.
Castro slammed the Vice President for saying that she travels abroad to meet Filipino communities who are supposedly frustrated with the current state of the country.
She said that if it is true that Filipinos abroad are frustrated, this is because the President is left in the Philippines working to address the country’s problems, such as corruption and anomalies, while the Vice President goes on personal trips.
“Hindi po sagot ang pagbibiyahe para masolusyunan kung may problema man ang bansa. Hindi po trabaho ng Bise Presidente, at wala po sa Konstitusyon, na kailangan siyang magbiyahe para siraan ang Pangulo at para hilingin sa taumbayan ang pagbagsak at pagtanggal sa puwesto ng Pangulo (Traveling will not solve the country’s problems. It’s not the duty of the Vice President, and it is nowhere in the Constitution, that she must travel abroad just to criticize and discredit the President),” she said.
Castro also denied that she released any fake information about the Vice President’s supposed plans to go to Kuwait, saying that some of the videos of her interview in India where she talked about the supposed trip were edited.
She said that she mentioned in the interview that she had no information on the whereabouts of Duterte and that was only asked about the Vice President’s supposed plans to go to Kuwait.
In the interview, she answered that the last travel authority issued to Duterte was in July for her trips to the Netherlands and South Korea, and that there was no update or new travel authority issued to her.
TRAVEL RECORDS
Deputy Speaker Ronaldo Puno of Antipolo City agreed with the Vice President that even lawmakers should reveal their travel records to the public.
“Lahat tayo, maglabasan tayo ng travel. May dalawang klase ng travel ha? Official travel at personal travel. ‘Yung personal travel, hindi binabayaran ng gobyerno. Official travel, binabayaran ng gobyerno. Personal travel, nandyan sa leave mo, sa personal na oras mo (All of us should reveal our travel records. There are two kinds of travels. Official travel and personal travel. The government doesn’t pay for personal travel. The official travel, the government foots the bill),” Puno told a press conference.
“Ako, payag ako. Pero wala naman sigurong natatakot ‘yan rito sa Congress. Official travel, ilabas natin lahat, tapos i-hambing natin ‘yun sa actual travel (I am all for it. I don’t think members of the House will be afraid to do that. We can show our official travel records and compare them to actual travels),” he added.
Puno, chair of the National Unity Party (NUP), which is the second largest political party at the House, vowed to personally request for his travel records so it could be available to the public.
“Gawan lang natin ng porma, papirmahin natin at ako mauna ako (Let’s just create a form, have people sign it, and I’ll be the first to do that),” said the former interior secretary.
BUDGET
The Vice President said she also expects the OVP’s proposed P903 million proposed budget for 2026 to be reduced by her critics in Congress, which scrutinizes the annual proposed national budget.
“Hindi naman nagbago ang administration e. ‘Yan pa rin ang Pangulo natin, ‘yan pa rin ang Speaker of the House of Representatives natin. So wala na tayong ma-expect na ibibigay para sa Office of the Vice President (The administration has not changed. He’s still our President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives also remains. So we don’t expect anything to be given to the Office of the Vice President),” she said.
She added: “So kung ano ‘yung in-approve ng Department of Budget and Management, ‘yun din ‘yung submit namin, ‘yan din ‘yung nilagay sa NEP (National Expenditure Program). And, of course, ang expectation natin is bababaan ‘yan pagdating sa House of Representatives (So whatever the Department of Budget and Management approved, it’s what we submitted and included in the NEP. Our expectation is that it will be reduced when it reaches the House of Representatives).”
Castelo has said that it was the Department of Budget and Management that increased the OVP’s budget proposal from P733 million to P803.6 million, which later reached P903 million after the OVP requested additional budget for personnel services.
PROPER FORUM
The Vice President also vowed to answer the House’s allegations against her in the Articles of Impeachment “in the proper forum,” like a court of law.
“Kung may kaso, sa tamang forum mag-eexplain kami (If there’s a case, we’ll explain in the proper forum),” she said.
“Noong umakyat sa Supreme Court ang kaso, lahat ng hiningi ng Supreme Court ay ibinigay namin. Doon sa mga tamang forum at tamang venue, nagbibigay kami ng saktong sagot at nagbibigay kami… ng explanation ng mga accusations (When the case reached the Supreme Court, we gave all that was asked of us. In the proper forum, proper venue, we give exact answers…of explanations to the accusations,” she also said.
Castro said Duterte should have answered the alleged misuse of her confidential funds from the very start and avoided being impeached by the House.
“Noon pa po dapat niya ginawa. Noon pa lang dapat nalinis na po sa COA (Commission on Audit) pa lang noong nagkaroon ng AOM (Audit Observation memorandum), bago pa nagkaroon ng notice of disallowance dapat ay naipaliwanag na nang maayos (She should have done that a long time ago. The issue should have been resolved back then – starting with the COA – when an AOM was first issued, before the notice of disallowance],” Castro said.
She said the issue would not have reached the impeachment process if Duterte or her staff already explained how the funds were used.
She said it, however, appeared that even her own staff – from her accountants to chief of staff – did not know how the confidential funds were spent. – With Jocelyn Reyes
