Vice President Sara Duterte is keen on the belief that the administration is behind the criminal charges lodged against her brother, Davao Rep. Paolo Duterte, viewing it as another calculated partisan effort to undermine the so-called opposition and to camouflage the supposed unsuccessful P20 per kilo rice pilot program.

The VP took issue with the timing of the filing of charges, which coincided with the suspension of the P20 per kilo rice rollout in Cebu—just one day after it was made available to the public.

"Because that promise is not true, it's just to hoodwink the people. They cannot sustain it [and] subsequently stop it on May 2… Then the alleged complaint was filed against Congressman Polong," the VP said in Filipino, referring to her older brother.

Rep. Duterte—currently in The Hague, Netherlands, where his father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, is detained for charges of crimes against humanity related to his bloody drug war—is facing complaints of grave threats and physical injuries before the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The charges, filed by Davao-based businessman Kristone John Patria, stemmed from a violent brawl, caught on CCTV, in a bar in the same city on 23 February.

Patria accused the lawmaker of attempting to stab him during a dispute involving payment to a group of women that the former had allegedly arranged for Duterte and his entourage. The video also showed Rep. Duterte headbutting Patria multiple times.

In response, the lawmaker, who is running for a third term in Congress, stated he has yet to receive a copy of the complaint, but his lawyers are already authenticating the viral video.

The VP, on the other hand, is convinced that the charges are driven by political motives, orchestrated by the administration to cover up recent pressing issues.

“As I’ve said, whenever they are embroiled in a major issue, they attack their political opponents to cover it up,” the VP asserted.

Meanwhile, Zambales Rep. Jefferson Khonghun, an ally of the administration, dared the VP to go beyond domestic issues and take a firm stand on national concerns, specifically in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

The lawmaker said he was puzzled as to why the VP and her allies are assertive and outspoken on local issues but remain mum on matters that require utmost attention, such as China’s persistent aggression in the highly contested WPS.

"When it comes to politics, the Vice President is always quick to speak out [especially] when she is being criticized. But when China attacks our territory, her silence is deafening," Khonghun averred. “I hope you're just as assertive when it comes to the issue with China. When our sovereignty is under attack, I hope you speak up, too."

The Philippines and China have been embroiled in a longstanding maritime dispute over the WPS. China asserts sovereignty over the entire South China Sea, which overlaps the WPS, despite a 2016 arbitral ruling that deemed its assertion baseless.

Despite a pact in July last year to de-escalate tensions, China remains aggressive through the use of water cannons, military-grade lasers, and by deploying missiles against Philippine troops and vessels.

Recently, China claimed maritime control and sovereign jurisdiction over Sandy Cay—which it referred to as Tiexian Reef—positioned just four nautical miles from a Philippine military outpost in the WPS.