Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro on Wednesday slammed Vice President Sara Duterte over her remarks about Philippine education, saying she had been a "complete failure" as Education secretary.

Castro pointed out that Duterte was "given a chance" by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to serve as Department of Education secretary for nearly two years.

"Whatever it is that she is complaining about, she should have addressed it during her time. Her complaint now only reflects that, as DepEd secretary, she was a complete failure," Castro said in Filipino.

This came after Duterte commented during her Kuwait visit that the Philippine education remains stuck in "paper and pencil" compared with other countries.

Castro also noted that current Education Secretary Sonny Angara has already begun cleaning up the "mess" left during Duterte’s term.

"Do not worry, students, teachers, and teaching staff, our DepEd Secretary, Sec. Angara, is now cleaning up whatever mess was left behind from the past," she said.

Castro continued that 1.5 million gadgets, laptops, and other teaching materials left unused since 2020 were finally addressed under Angara’s leadership. "It was only in 2024 that he was able to fix and make use of them," she said.