Statement of Malacañang on Foreign Trips of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte
Malacañang press undersecretary Claire Castro spoke anew on the overseas trips of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Vice Pres. Sara Duterte have been to at least four (4) countries in less than a month after the 2025 Midterm Elections. She went to Doha, Qatar to meet with the Filipinos there and then went to The Hague, Netherlands for scheduled visits with her father, former Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
Former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte is detained under the custody of the International Criminal Court or ICC in The Hague for more than 100 days now. He is faced with an accusation of crimes against humanity over his administration’s war on drugs.
Former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte won mayor in Davao City but his son, Davao Vice Mayor Baste Duterte, will be the city’s acting mayor while he has yet to take his oath. After visiting her father in The Hague, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte attended a Philippine Independence Day celebration in Malaysia with senators Robin Padilla and Imee Marcos.
Vice Pres. Duterte returned shortly to the Philippines for the 2025 Pasidungog, an annual event held by her office, then flew to Australia. In the foreign country, she was expected to join the “Free Duterte Now” rally.
In Australia, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte told the Filipinos to convince the Australian government to look into the alleged “injustice” to her father, former Pres. Rodrigo Duterte. Malacañang previously reacted to her overseas trips saying that it is the choice of the Vice President if she prefers to be busy in her travels.
Vice Pres. Duterte reacted to the remarks of Malacañang asserting that she used her own money in her personal trips and she remains to do her job even when she is in abroad. Malacañang then said that Vice Pres. Duterte should report to the nation what she did in Australia.
Recently, after Vice Pres. Sara Duterte called the Palace officials “stupid” for urging her to report details of her overseas trips, Malacañang press undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro claimed that insufficient knowledge of the rules cannot be covered by making insults. Based on a report on PhilStar, she stressed that when an official is working, she is carrying the flag of the country and should report the good results of her work.
“Ang kakulangan sa kaalaman sa batas, sa ethical standards ay hindi makukubli sa pag mumura o sa pang-iinsulto. Kapag nagtrabaho, dala ang posisyon, dala ang bandera ng Pilipinas… dapat ipaalam kung ano ang magandang resulta sa pagtratrabaho,” Castro said.
Based on the report, the Malacañang press officer also compared Vice Pres. Sara Duterte to Pres. Bongbong Marcos noting that the Chief Executive reports his activities in other countries. According to Atty. Claire Castro, Vice Pres. Duterte may have not worked abroad, thus, she cannot report anything.
“Kung walang maireport, baka walang natrabaho,” the Palace official said.
Vice Pres. Sara Duterte previously claimed that she is allegedly the “frontrunner” of the 2028 presidential elections, thus, the Marcos administration supposedly wants to remove her from office.