Malacañang on Wednesday said that it was Vice President Sara Duterte’s baseless criticism, not President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), that was a ‘waste of time.’
These remarks came after Duterte said in an interview in The Hague, Netherlands, that she did not watch or read Marcos’ fifth Sona, similar to last year, calling it a ‘waste of time for the Filipino people.’
At a briefing, Palace press officer Claire Castro said failing to show respect for the President’s yearly report is a sign of disrespect to the Constitution.
She also said that there are people who want their fellow citizens to remain ignorant so they can be easier to manipulate.
‘So, to our fellow citizens, let us always be discerning; it is our obligation to seek the truth. Let us not follow anyone who encourages us to remain ignorant of the truth-doing so will only blind us. It is our duty to find out the truth so that we do not remain ignorant of the truth,’ Castro said in Filipino.
Duterte also questioned why the public should trust Marcos’ promises, citing the unfulfilled commitments regarding the imprisonment of his cousin, former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, and the promised P20-per-kilo rice.
‘Answering this seems like a waste of time because the message is baseless and completely nonsensical. We know that all of this is a lie,’ added Castro.
‘There is the P20-per-kilo rice that many are already able to avail of; many are already benefiting from our Kadiwa Centers,’ the Palace official also said.
Castro also responded to Duterte’s attribution of the recent rise in school violence to what she described as ‘weak leadership’ in the government.
‘The government-including the PNP and our police force in affected areas-acted swiftly, and measures are currently being taken to resolve the matter. It is truly best to be informed about the President’s program so that we are not blinded to the truth,’ Castro said.