HOME > INQUIRER > Article

Text Size

small

medium

large


Palace hits Sara Duterte’s overseas rants vs Marcos administration

Palace hits Sara Duterte’s overseas rants vs Marcos administration

Provided by INQUIRER.net.

Vice President Sara Duterte.



MANILA, Philippines — The Palace on Tuesday told Vice President Sara Duterte that constantly traveling abroad and speaking negatively of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is not part of her mandate, stating that doing so does not contribute to resolving the country’s problems.

Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro made the pronouncement during a Palace press conference after Duterte recently explained that one of the primary reasons why she’s traveling abroad is to meet with Filipinos overseas who are “frustrated” with the country’s current state.

READ: Sara Duterte says she expects House to cut OVP's budget for 2026

Filipinos abroad might feel frustrated because the President is in the Philippines working, addressing problems, and fighting anomalies and corruption, while the Vice President is often away on personal trips," said Castro in Filipino.

Traveling is not the answer to solving the country’s problems. It is not the Vice President’s job, nor is it stated in the Constitution, that she should travel to discredit the President or to call on the public to bring him down and remove him from office," she added.

Castro reiterated that going on “personal trips” instead of performing official duties is tantamount to pursuing one’s personal agenda.

First of all, if the President is removed from office, the one who stands to benefit is the Vice President. That is not the Vice President’s job."

That should be clear enough in our Constitution. Perhaps it just needs to be made even clearer that personal trips serve personal agendas."

Duterte explained the reasons behind her overseas trips on Monday in Davao City when she also dared the House of Representatives to release the travel records of its members.

Duterte’s recent overseas trips have spanned several months—beginning in March when she accompanied her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, when he was detained by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands for crimes against humanity in March; then once again in May when she returned to the Netherlands; then later to Malaysia and Australia in June; and then once again to the Netherlands and South Korea in July.

She last arrived in the country on July 28 or during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s fourth State of the Nation Address, which she skipped.

Meanwhile, the last time Duterte made mention of Marcos’ resignation was during a gathering in The Hague, Netherlands for her father in March.

During the gathering, supporters of the Duterte family were chanting “Marcos resign” to which the vice president responded:“Kayo nagsabi niyan, hindi ako ah.” (You said that, not me.)

READ: VP Sara Duterte denies calling for Marcos’ resignation

She then took a jab at Marcos’ capability to lead the country, and gave reasons why Marcos should resign.

Duterte later clarified to reporters that she did not explicitly call for Marcos’ resignation, stating that it was her family’s supporters who made the demand,  and that she was merely urging them to explain why they want the president to step down. /gsg

To read a full story, please click here to find out how to subscribe.

INQUIRER

HEADLINES

POLITICS
TICAD 9 to Start in Yokohama on Wed. to Discuss Aid for African Countries
ECONOMY
Taiwan's Hon Hai, Japan's SoftBank to Jointly Make Data Center Equipment in Ohio
SPORTS
Women's Tennis: Japan's Uchijima Loses in 1st Round of Cleveland Championships
OTHER
3-Year Prison Term Sought for Ex-Kadokawa Chairman over Tokyo Games Bribery

AFP-JIJI PRESS NEWS JOURNAL


Photos