“It’s a big lie.” Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro slammed statements made by Vice President Sara Duterte claiming that the Marcos administration have abandoned overseas Filipino workers.

This came after Duterte released a statement saying that the Palace supposedly ordered the Philippine Embassy at The Hague to conduct a “welfare check” on former President Rodrigo Duterte.

According to Duterte, it is not her father who needs a “welfare check” but the distressed Filipinos.

“They need you but you have failed them,” she said in a statement.

Malacañang declined to comment on the alleged visit to the former President and deferred the matter to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

For the alleged neglect of the government to Filipinos overseas, Castro said that the Department of Migrant Workers have never failed to give assistance to those who needed the agency.

She noted the presence of Migrant Workers Office (MWO) in countries where the working Filipino community is large.

“We have a Migrant Workers Office (MWO) in destinations or countries with strong or large populations; it is headed by a labor attaché. So, all the needs or requirements of our compatriots abroad especially the OFWs are addressed by our government and that is also what our President wants,” she said, citing DMW Undersecretary Bernard Olalia.

She stressed that the DMW have always provided assistance to Filipinos in distress.

“According to DMW records, all those who ask for help from them, they respond one hundred percent and they have records. And the DMW also has a quick response team,” she said. “If rescue is needed and they cannot enter [properties] immediately, they immediately ask for help from the police authorities in the said country.”

Both the President and the Vice President have hosted events to meet with the Filipino communities whenever they visit other countries.