Sara Duterte’s call for admin to ‘start working, stop politicking’ is ‘laughable’ — Palace

MANILA — Vice President Sara Duterte’s call for the Marcos administration to “stop politicking and start working” is “laughable,” Malacañang said on Wednesday.

The Palace was referring to a portion of Duterte’s recent statement where the Vice President accused President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his administration of peddling narratives that her alleged ties to Chinese businesses is a national security issue.

“Ako ay lubhang natawa. Nakakatawa dahil kabalintunaan ang kaniyang mga sinasabi dito sa kanyang statement,” Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro told Palace reporters.

“Sa dinami-dami ng kaniyang biniyahe, 2025 buwan-buwan siyang nagbibiyahe, at noong 2026 parang every other month, January, February, May, July, August… so sa dinami-dami ng kaniyang biyahe, siya pa ang magsasabing ang gobyerno dapat magtrabaho. Lahat ng biyahe niya ay personal trips,” she said.

“So, kaya lubhang katawa-tawa ang kanyang mga mensahe. Huwag tayo sanang magpaligaw.”

Marcos and Duterte ran as a tandem in the 2022 national elections, where they both won via a landslide. 

In mid-2024, Duterte resigned as Marcos Jr.’s Education secretary following months of verbal tussles between their relatives and allies over corruption allegations and reports that the incumbent administration coordinated with the ICC to arrest former President Rodrigo Duterte for charges of crimes against humanity.

The rift between tandem eventually grew larger after the Duterte patriarch was flown to the Hague and hurled before the international tribunal to answer for his alleged murder of thousands of suspected drug users and peddlers, including minors.

Last year, Marcos’ allies impeached the Vice President for betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution after she allegedly misused her office’s confidential funds, misdeclared her wealth and assets, bribed several officials and issued grave threats against the President and his relatives.

Duterte’s impeachment trial in the Senate is still on going with the defense team set to rebut the allegations and present their own evidence next month.