Vice President Sara Duterte has asserted that the Philippine government’s debt reached P18.49 trillion and the unemployment rate remained at 5 percent in March because the entire administration is not working, especially President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
‘As expected, because the entire administration is not working, especially the Presiden,’ Duterte, speaking in a mix of Filipino and English, said in an interview in The Hague, Netherlands, on Thursday, May 7 (Netherlands time), when asked about her reaction to the recent recorded debt and employment rates in the Philippines.
On Wednesday, the Bureau of the Treasury reported that the Philippine government’s outstanding debt swelled to P18.49 trillion in March, nearly 2 percent higher than the P18.16 trillion debt recorded in February.
The Philippine Statistics Authority, meanwhile, recorded a flat 5 percent unemployment rate in March, slightly lower than the 5.1 percent recorded in February.
According to Duterte, Marcos should focus on his job as the president to address those issues and must ignore ordinary citizens criticizing him on social media.
‘That’s why I said, when you’re President, you don’t care what ordinary citizens say. Will you still chase those on social media, on Facebook, who are airing their grievances, their anger. No more,’ she said.
‘What you should be doing is focusing on your work. And when you don’t focus on your work, that’s what happens, unemployment increases, we borrow more and more,’ the Vice President said.
‘Sensitive, insecure, afraid’
In the interview, Duterte was also asked about the government’s action regarding former broadcaster Jay Sonza and Vlogger Jeffrey Luces Celiz or ‘Ka Eric Celiz,’ who were charged with unlawful publication and cyberlibel for allegedly spreading Marcos’ fake medical record.
The vice president emphasized that ‘those kinds of people who are affected by the opinions of ordinary citizens are sensitive, insecure, and afraid.’
‘When you are president, it doesn’t matter what the citizens attack you with. Because that is part of your job. What you should focus on is how you can make the country peaceful and prosperous. That is what you should focus on,’ she said.
The INQUIRER reached out to Malacañang regarding Duterte’s remarks but has yet to respond as of posting time.
Meanwhile, Duterte, who recently announced her presidential bid for the 2028 elections, said that if elected as the country’s leader, she would adopt the transportation system she observed in the Netherlands for the Philippines.
Duterte is currently in The Hague to visit her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte who is detained at the International Criminal Court’s detention center over his ongoing ‘crimes against humanity’ case related to his administration’s bloody war against illegal drugs.
The vice president has been granted travel authority by Malacañang and will be out of the country from April 23 to May 15 to visit the Netherlands, South Korea, Belgium, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
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Her travel overseas coincides with the time when the House committee on justice is about to conclude hearings on her impeachment case.