Undaunted by critics, VP Sara says she’s writing another book

HARDLY ON SAME PAGE Questions regarding a storybook written by Vice President Sara Duterte lead to a verbal tussle between her and Sen. Risa Hontiveros during Tuesday’s budget hearing. Things got testy after Duterte refused to directly answer why P10 million must be spent to distribute “Isang Kaibigan (A Friend),” its cover and author’s page shown in the insets. SENATE SOCIAL MEDIA UNIT/CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

Vice President Sara Duterte plans to write another book, this time about being betrayed by a friend.

“Brace for my next book that I will write about a friend’s betrayal,” Duterte said in a statement on Wednesday night, right after she verbally sparred with Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who asked her about a P10 million allotment in her office’s proposed 2025 budget for the printing of her self-authored children’s book titled “Isang Kaibigan (A Friend).”

The two briefly exchanged words with Duterte accusing the senator of politicizing her budget. She even brought up the time when Hontiveros, who was still running for senator, asked her for help in Davao City.

In her statement, Duterte defended herself from allegations of plagiarism after several people noticed similarities between her book which tells of a friendship between an owl and a parrot, and another children’s book.

Renowned author Ninotchka Rosca posted on her Facebook the cover of the Owly series “Owly: Just a Little Blue,” the second book in the series by American author Andy Runton that was published in 2006.

The book series tells the story of a lonely little owl named Owly who is always on the search for new friends.

READ: VP Sara’s ‘Isang Kaibigan’ book sparks heated exchange in Senate

Duterte, however, said, “It’s so easy to write a short story based on your own experience; there is no need to copy it from another.”

“This project is intended to encourage our youth to have a fondness for reading and to write their own stories,” she added.

“The book should be the least of country’s problems because [the main issue here is] our youth’s weakness in reading comprehension,” said the former education secretary.

House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro, meanwhile, observed Duterte’s propensity for straying from her official duties, particularly her request for P10 million to print her book and her demand for media to be given limited access at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia).

‘Not her mandate’

“It seems that VP Duterte has a penchant for doing things that are not her mandate like the P125 million confidential funds that she spent in 11 days in 2022, or writing books using public funds, or ordering Naia to tighten their security and not allow media access to the airport because she was caught leaving for Germany at the height of Typhoon ‘Carina,’” Castro said.

She pointed out the P10 million that Duterte was seeking would be better spent on addressing the country’s pressing problems of unemployment, low wages, high cost of goods, and the lack of classrooms.