Government abandoned VP? It’s the other way around – Palace

MANILA, Philippines — It was Vice President Sara Duterte who abandoned the government and not the other way around, Malacañang said yesterday, as it accused the administration’s ally-turned-arch political foe of playing victim.

“That’s what they want to show, to make the OVP look miserable, to make the Vice President appear miserable,” Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro told Palace reporters in Filipino.

“No one abandoned her. It’s she who abandoned the government,” Castro said.

Duterte reportedly told the Filipino community in Hong Kong that the entire government has turned its back on the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

During what her camp said was a campaign sortie in Hong Kong over the weekend, Duterte told a gathering of Filipino workers that she was grateful for their support for the OVP but bemoaned its being reportedly neglected by the Marcos administration.

Castro said the Vice President was given the chance to defend her office’s budget against allegations of misuse of P125 million in confidential funds, but she chose to rant instead and malign her accusers.

The Palace official also hit back at Duterte over her claim that she was not endorsing any candidate in the upcoming May elections, as she had already been “scammed” by her former allies during the May 2022 national polls.

Castro reminded Duterte that she is in the campaign ad of Sen. Ronald dela Rosa.

“If she doesn’t endorse, why do we see campaign ads featuring her, praising Sen. Bato (Dela Rosa)’s work or performance, if there’s any?”

“I guess the members of UniTeam didn’t think that VP Sara would quickly spend the P125-million confidential funds in just 11 days, I guess they didn’t think about that and gave her their trust,” Castro said. “If she was scammed by the UniTeam, is it not the other way around?”