Pusit again? Kabataan solon criticizes Sara Duterte’s ‘troll behavior’

Vice President Sara Duterte answers questions during the House of Representatives appropriations committee hearing on the 2026 budget of the Office of the Vice President. —SCREENGRAB FROM HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES/FACEBOOK

MANILA, Philippines — Kabataan party-list Representative Renee Co has lamented that Vice President Sara Duterte, instead of directly answering questions related to her confidential fund (CF) expenses, allegedly resorted to “troll behavior” by linking her to another lawmaker.

Co on Tuesday, after the House of Representatives’ committee on appropriations discussed the Office of the Vice President (OVP), called out Duterte for her “non-sense question” on her possible relations with Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co.

Duterte raised the question before Rep. Renee started asking questions at the budget briefing—to which the Kabataan lawmaker said she has no familial ties with the Ako Bicol solon.

READ: Squid tactics? Castro scores VP Sara for deflecting secret fund issue

“How about you, how are you related to Mary Grace Piattos? It’s been three years already, but you still cannot explain where the P125 million worth of confidential funds went? You really move like a squid, full of intrigues. She attended the hearing but behaved like a troll.”

“She should follow the lead of her father, go abroad and never come back. We don’t deserve a vice president that does nothing but propagate fake news. We should reallocate funds for OVP to SUCs and other services instead of having these available for Sara Duterte’s unlimited revenge travel,” she added.

During the interpellation, Co raised a follow-up question to ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio’s query on Duterte’s recent overseas trips, as to whether public funds were used in her travels.

But before she answered, Duterte asked the presiding officer, appropriations vice chairperson and Palawan Rep. Jose Alvarez if she could raise a question.

When Alvarez said that this depends on the nature of the question, Duterte went ahead and asked Co if she is related to the Ako Bicol lawmaker.

“Madam Chair, may I be allowed to ask a question?” Duterte asked. “Magpinsan po ba si Congressman Co ngayon at saka si Zaldy Co? Are they relatives?”

“Mr. Chair, I can answer […] I have no familial relations po to Rep. Zaldy Co or any of their relatives po,” Co replied.

The term “squid tactics” are a reference to former ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro’s quip during the 2025 budget deliberations last August 27, 2024, where she likened the Vice President to a squid—releasing ink when under pressure.

Castro said this after Duterte allegedly deflected questions related to her office’s use of CFs, repeatedly saying that she forgoes the opportunity to defend the budget in a question-and-answer format or by insisting that they have already coordinated with the Commission on Audit (COA) regarding the notice of disallowance.

READ: Sara Duterte parries secret fund queries in OVP budget hearing

The matter was brought up again during Tinio’s line of questioning, but Duterte refrained from answering queries about to avoid exposing her defense panel’s preparations for a possible impeachment trial.

Initially, Duterte urged Tinio to ask COA about these issues. But when Tinio pressed the Vice President regarding the quick spending of CF allocations in December 2022, she eventually said that the issue is the subject of an impeachment trial.

Duterte made the same answer when Tinio asked about the issue of Mary Grace Piattos.

Piattos, along with other weird names that signed off several acknowledgement receipts (ARs), were not found inside the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) registry for live birth, marriage, and death.

In an ambush interview after the hearing, Duterte was asked why she gave such an answer—and if she is still anticipating an impeachment trial despite the matter being archived at the Senate.

READ: Tinio dares Sara Duterte: Waive parliamentary courtesy, answer queries

Earlier, the Majority and Minority blocs gave parliamentary courtesy to Duterte, so that she would not have to answer queries from members of the House committee on appropriations. Duterte however waived this, allowing Tinio and Co to raise concerns.

Parliamentary courtesy has been a hot topic when the OVP budget was supposed to be discussed last Friday, as the Minority through Senior Deputy Majority Leader and Caloocan 2nd District Rep. Edgar Erice joined the Majority in vowing to maintain this tradition for high-ranking officials.

According to Co, more lawmakers should have been allowed to ask questions.

“She is the second highest official of the land. It’s a pity that other fellow lawmakers were not given the chance to ask questions so that she could explain a lot of issues. The hearing was terminated immediately. Are we afraid of being questioned?” Co asked. /cb