VICE President Sara Duterte said that her being the frontrunner for the 2028 presidential election is not a diversionary tactic, and that the attacks the current administration is making against her are “political scapegoating.”
“Kapag walang nangyayari sa administrasyon mo at walang ginagawa yung principal o yung presidente, ang gagawin nila is magtuturo ng ibang tao. Kapag merong kwestyon sa kawalan ng ginagawa ng administrasyon, ang gagawin nila ay magtuturo sa ibang tao para nawawala yung tanong at parang nagugulo ang mga tao. This is a classic political scapegoating,” she said on Friday, June 27, 2025, at the Sangguniang Panlungsod in Davao City.
(When nothing is happening in your administration and the principal or the president is not doing anything, what they will do is point fingers at other people. When there are questions about the administration's inaction, they will shift the blame to others so that the question gets deflected and people become confused. This is classic political scapegoating.)
Duterte said that when the issue of the blanks in the bicameral report was raised, it was followed by the rendition of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Duterte then enumerated the supposed political scapegoating the administration orchestrated with the first one, to be about the personal scandal allegedly involving a member of the First Family in the United States.
Three days after that alleged scandal, the former president was brought to The Hague, Netherlands.
Duterte added that when the People’s Initiative was brought to light, an impeachment complaint was filed against her.
“So, assuming hindi totoo yung presidential election sa 2028, klaro naman sa timeline kung paano nila ginagawa yung pag-atake ng kanilang political opponents para makalimutan ang kanilang mga kabalbalan (So, assuming the 2028 presidential election isn't real, the timeline clearly shows how they attack their political opponents to make people forget their own wrongdoings),” she said.
She also said she is not being emotional, contrary to the Palace's statement that “when emotions are high, intelligence is low.”
“No, I’m not angry. I’m just stating a matter of fact. And hindi ako [And I’m not ] emotional. Hindi ko…Nakita niyo naman ako paano ako maging emotional, hindi pa ako umaabot doon [You’ve seen how I get when I’m emotional…I’m not even close to that,],” she said.
It can be recalled that Palace Press Officer Claire Castro responded to Duterte’s remarks that the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is “idiotic.”
“Kapag ikaw ay taong-gobyerno at public servant ka, obligasyon mo na ipakita lahat at sagutin ang mga isyu na kakapalooban o na kakasangkutan mo. So, ini-expect po natin iyan kay VP Sara dahil talagang mukhang diversionary tactic po ito,” Castro said in an interview with national media.
(If you are a government official and a public servant, it is your obligation to be transparent and respond to the issues you are involved in or linked to. So, we expect that from VP Sara because this really seems like a diversionary tactic).
Duterte also said that the spokesperson for the administration has “kulang-kulang ‘yung [lacking] brain cells.”
The vice president is facing an impeachment case in the Senate and is facing allegations of misusing confidential funds in the Office of the Vice President and during her time as Secretary of Education. RGP