Palace official fires back at Sara Duterte over Australia trip

Palace Press Officer Claire Castro (left) and Vice President Sara Duterte (INQUIRER FILES)

MANILA, Philippines — Palace Press Officer Claire Castro on Tuesday criticized Vice President Sara Duterte’s “lack of ethical standards”—which, she stressed, cannot be hidden behind foul language or personal insults.

Castro’s statement is still in connection with Duterte’s recent “personal” trip to Australia, which she questioned and insisted should be accompanied by an accomplishment report.

READ: What Palace exec thinks of Sara Duterte’s recent trips abroad 

Over the weekend, Duterte said she had no obligation to inform the public about her personal travel and berated Castro for demanding such information.

“That’s the example I gave you that’s really dumb/stupid, right?,”  Duterte said in an last Friday.

But in Tuesday’s briefing, Castro maintained that Duterte must submit a report detailing the outcome of her trip.

“A lack of knowledge about the law and ethical standards cannot be concealed by cursing or hurling insults. It’s a simple question: Was it a vacation or official work? She was the one who said it was work—that she was working, not on a holiday. So if it was indeed work, she carried his position, she carried the Philippine flag, and he had official functions,” said Castro.

“As stated in Republic Act 6713, public office is a public trust. So, there must be transparency about the positive outcomes of the work done. If there’s nothing to report, then perhaps no work was actually accomplished,” she added.

READ: VP Duterte: We didn’t talk to Australia for dad’s interim release

Duterte left for Australia on June 17 and returned to Manila on June 24.

During the “Free Duterte Now” event in Melbourne, the second-highest leader of the Philippines claimed that her father, arrested former President Rodrigo Duterte, is receiving “injustices” from the International Criminal Court.

She encouraged her Filipino supporters to “come together” and create a position paper regarding her request, as well as to bring her father’s case to the local Australian media and to the global community through their social media accounts.

This, however, was flagged by Castro, asking that if the trip was personal, then why did she use the Office of the Vice President’s official Facebook page to livestream her message during the “Free Duterte Now” event? /gsg