Vice President Sara Duterte dismissed allegations that her family is pro-China, saying that her critics have been using the pro-China for a long time now.

This was the Vice President's reaction to the statement of Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro who said that President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. already expected that she would criticize on how the government is handling the territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea.

“Hindi nila dapat nila ako pinapasagot kung pro-China ako. Sagutin niya ang tanong ko: Where is the independent foreign policy that is required by the Constitution? Where is it right now? Explain to the Filipino people how you are going to implement your independent foreign policy,” Duterte said at a press conference.

“Matagal na nilang narrative na pro-China ako. I am not pro any country at all. Ang sinasabi ko lagi, we need to develop, we need to maintain, and we need to level up our relations with all countries, hindi lang sa China,” the Vice President added.

Duterte also criticized Marcos for doing a photo ops during the destruction of more than P9.4 worth of illegal drugs in Tarlac.

Instead of doing that, Duterte said the chief executive should prioritize to improve the lives of Filipinos beyond the photos.

“Hindi trabaho ng Presidente ang mag-photo op sa nahuli na drugs at mag-photo op sa pagsira ng drugs,” she said.

The Vice President also expressed her frustration about the current state of the country under the Marcos administration.

“The state of the nation is dire, it is sad, and for me personally, it is frustrating,” Duterte said.

The Vice President earlier confirmer that she will not be attending Marcos’ fourth State of the Nation Address next month.

Duterte also defended her recent travels abroad, saying she was not on holiday while on a personal trip to Melbourne, Australia.

“Hindi kasi nila naiintindihan…hindi ko alam kung sinasadya nila na ayaw intindihin o talagang bobo lang talaga ang nasa administrasyon. I’d likely lean doon sa latter," she said, adding that she is not using public funds when she is on personal trips.

Duterte was reacting to the statement of Malacañang who questioned if her travel to Australia was personal or for the country.

“Hindi ibig sabihin na personal na lakad ‘yan ay holiday o pamamasyal ‘yan. ‘Yun ang ibig sabihin ng personal—walang ginamit na pera ng gobyerno sa lakad na ito pero nagtatrabaho pa rin ako,” Duterte said.

“Kung hindi sila bobo, maiintindihan nila ‘yung ginagawa ko. Bobo kasi sila eh kaya hindi nila naiintindihan. Umupo sila, tignan nila. Hindi ko sasabihin kung ano ginagawa ko. I don't like talking about how I think and what I think, so kung meron silang gusto basahin doon, good luck,” the Vice President added.

On 5 February, the House of Representatives impeached the Vice President, with 215 lawmakers voting in favor to adopt the articles of impeachment against her.

She stands accused of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, and other high crimes over, among other things, the alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential and intelligence funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, which she had concurrently headed.

Meanwhile, the Vice President has entered a not guilty plea in the verified impeachment complaint filed against her by the House of Representatives, saying it's just a scrap of paper.

She argued that the fourth impeachment complaint must be dismissed for being illegal as it violated the one-year bar rule under the 1987 Constitution. NEIL ALCOBER