Careless

Malacañang charitably didn’t call it for what it is. But the Palace clearly wanted it to mean that Vice President Sara Duterte is careless.

Not only careless. The Palace even made the case that the Veep couldn’t think on her feet, that she pitiably struggled to make proper responses in her encounter with reporters.

An incapacity which some said had her even alarmingly admit her true position on China’s hegemonic ambitions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

The Palace’s qualified depictions came after the Veep questioned Mr. Marcos Jr.’s earlier comments on claims that Cale88 Foods Corp. received at least P319 million in remittances from China and Hong Kong. Cale88 Foods Corp. is a firm linked to Duterte and her husband, lawyer Mans Carpio.

Mr. Marcos Jr. warned that if proven true, allegations that Chinese entities were funding Cale88 Foods Corp. could pose a threat “at the highest level” to the country.

Reacting on Monday, the Veep was widely quoted as saying: “Parang sinasabi niya (Marcos) na ‘yung mga nagnenegosyo o mayroong trade sa China ay threat din sa bansa. So, ano ba talaga? Bawal ba talaga magnegosyo with China kasi it’s a national security risk? Naging troublemaker of Southeast Asia tayo.”

(“It was like he was saying that those who have business dealings or trade with China are also threats to the country. So, what is it? Is it really prohibited to do business with China because it’s a national security risk? We’ve become the troublemaker of Southeast Asia.”)

In response, the Palace insisted there were no prohibitions on business deals with Chinese firms as implied by the Veep and that Ms. Duterte should have first listened and then reviewed the President’s actual statements before responding.

Palace Press Officer Claire Castro went further by saying the Veep’s statements appeared to indicate “she is really into business with China.”

As of press time, neither the Veep nor her spokesman has reacted to the Palace statement.

Other critics, however, said the Veep was in a bind, noting that if she owned up to having business dealings with China, she would have violated the constitutional ban on high government officials having local or foreign business interests.

But it was the strange affixing of the phrase “naging troublemaker in Southeast Asia tayo” to her remarks that is upsetting a lot of people, especially security officials who say it not only indirectly questioned the country’s assertion of sovereign rights in the WPS but also smacked of political defeatism.

Spokesperson for the WPS Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, for instance, said, “When you stand up for maritime rights that are legally and rightfully yours, you are not a troublemaker.”

Trinidad also said countries that “occupy your territory (and) would like to sow false narratives to advance their interests” are the real troublemakers.

In referencing the point, news media reported that the Veep eerily echoed China’s political line, citing China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian’s 24 July remarks wherein he described the country as “a troublemaker in the South China Sea.”

As with the accusations of having business interests in China, the Veep is yet to fully explain what her “troublemaker” statement really meant.

But it seems that by carelessly blurting out her “private thoughts” on the WPS issue, she perhaps ended up ordering a staffer to throw her own laptop at herself, mocked a critic.