Vacationing VP Sara ‘no contribution’ to ASEAN—Castro

MACTAN, Cebu—Palace press officer and Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro has once again lambasted Vice President Sara Duterte for having no contribution in the momentous ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings, even her admission that she doesn’t know how to use a laptop computer, a negative attribute of a politician seeking to be the most powerful official of the country.

Earlier, VP Sara hit President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. over rising unemployment and the country’s growing debt, saying, “As expected, kasi hindi naman nagtatrabaho ‘yung buong administration lalong-lalo na ang Pangulo.”

“Ang dapat na ginagawa mo, tinututukan mo iyong trabaho mo. At kapag hindi mo tinutukan iyong trabaho mo, ganyan ‘yung nangyayari. Tumataas ang unemployment, nangungutang tayo ng nangungutang,” she said in an interview with supporters at The Hague, Netherlands.

Castro backfired, saying that she is saddened because the Vice President seems clueless and lost about what is happening in the country.

“Inamin niya na hindi siya marunong gumamit ng computer. Again, hindi niya alam ang nangyayari, kung ano ang tinatrabaho ng Pangulo. Ang Pangulo po ay nagtatrabaho. bago pa pumunta ng Cebu nakita niyo naman po, siya po ay tinignan po ang sitwasyon sa Albay, sa pag-aalburoto ng Mayon Volcano. Pumunta rin po siya at ginampanan ang pagbibigay ng tulong sa ating mga kababayan sa Bawat Barangay at Bawat Bayan Makikinabang,” she stressed.

“So nakita niyo po kung gaano po magtabaho ang Pangulo. Ngayon po nandito siya, abalang-abala sa ASEAN Summit. Ang mga concerned agencies at departments ng Ehekutibo ay nandito para magtabaho. Samantalang ang Bise Presidente nandoon po sa ibang bansa at nagbabakasyon. So, wala po siyang naitutulong sa ASEAN, at wala po siyang nagiging trabaho,” she added.

Castro maintained that the government having external debt is normal, if it will benefit the majority of Filipinos.

“At tandaan po natin, lumaki po ang utang hindi po sa panahon ngayon lamang. Lumaki ang utang dahil namana po ni Pangulong Marcos Jr. ang napakalaking utang na nakuha ni dating pangulong Duterte at ito ay napabayaan diumano dahil sa pang-aabuso sa Pharmally at mga ghost projects noon ng Build, Build, Build,” she noted.

Further, the Palace spokesperson said VP Sara is not fit to be the next President because for not have the knowledge to use the computer.

“So yun ang nakakaalarma dahil niyang maging Pangulo pero paano siya magkakaroon ng tamang pagpapasiya? Ni paggamit ng Pangulo ay hindi niya alam. At inamin naman niya ito noong siya ay DepEd secretary. Pati yung MATATAG Curriculum, hindi niya ito kayang i-review dahil sabi niya wala siyang alam at ang kaya niya lang gawin ay magpukpok nang magpukpok ng tao. So, paano mamamahala ang isang kagaya ng Bise Presidente na magpupukpok lang ng tao nang hindi niya nare-review ang ginagawa ng mga taong inuutusan niya,” she said.

On Mabanta’s closeness to PBBM

Meanwhile, Castro admitted that President Marcos and the arrested online personality Franco Mabanta, had once worked as Marcos’ social media director, only for six months in 2018.

“Wala namang nagde-deny na naging social media director ng Pangulo itong si Franco Mabanta. We’re talking about it right now. So, china-challenge ko rin, bigyan niya ako ng larawan na magkasama si Franco Mabanta at ang Pangulong Marcos Jr., lalong-lalo na sa kanyang wedding kung saan ang mga kasamahan niya ay nagagawi sa tinatawag na DDS,” she said.

A video is currently circulating on social media platforms, posted by former President Spokesperson Harry Roque, showing President Marcos and First Lady Liza Marcos attending his wedding and congratulating him with hugs, also calling them ‘Tito’ and ‘Tita’.

Castro said Mabanta only lasted six months as President Marcos’s social media director in 2018, as he was replaced because his style did not fit with Marcos’s governance mantra, Bagong Pilipinas.