Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro defended President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. from Vice President Sara Duterte’s assertion that Filipinos were losing hope because they did not “feel” the Marcos administration.

“Maybe she just doesn’t feel anything because she doesn’t see the projects being implemented by the President and the administration,” Castro said in a televised interview.

Castro said the President’s projects and public engagements were broadcast by Radio Television Malacañang (RTVM) and state-run PTV-4, ensuring their transparency and accessibility to the public.

The Palace official suggested the Vice President may be missing key developments due to her being overseas and not in the country.

“If she doesn’t see anything the administration is doing, it’s probably because she’s abroad. The President is in our country right now, in the Philippines, working. While the Vice President is missing and abroad,” Castro said.

Duterte is currently in The Hague, the Netherlands, where her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, is detained on crimes against humanity charges before the International Criminal Court in connection with his administration’s war on drugs which claimed thousands of lives.

The Vice President is assisting in the formation of her father’s defense team which is headed by British-Israeli lawyer Nicholas Kaufman.

VP’s obligations

In addition, Castro said, Duterte has an “obligation” to the public to explain what happened to the confidential funds allocated to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) she had headed.

She urged the Vice President to face the House of Representatives and address recent developments, including the discovery of new names of supposed recipients of the OVP and DepEd funds.

Duterte, however, responded that she did not need to face the House.

Castro said that while it was ultimately up to the Vice President to address the issues surrounding her, as a public servant she is accountable to the people.

“It’s up to her if she doesn’t want to answer, but it’s her obligation as the Vice President, a public servant, to explain not only to the House but to the people because this is the people’s money,” she said.