Vice President Sara Duterte said she is under no obligation to disclose details of her recent personal trip to Australia after the Palace called on her to be more transparent in her travels abroad.
“That is really an example of how stupid they are,” she said in an interview with local media in Davao City on Friday.
“If you use government funds for your trip, it becomes official business. Then you must report,” the Vice President added.
Earlier, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro urged Duterte to be more transparent in her travels, especially if she has official functions during a private trip.
“She did not disclose that she will have official functions. The situation becomes different because she said it was a personal trip but it turned out she will undertake official functions,” Castro said.
“There will be ethical and accountability concerns…They even used the OVP Facebook, which is part of the government, but was used for a personal trip. So, there is confusion and conflict of interest,” she added.
Castro urged Duterte to be more “honest” with the nature of her trips, adding that the Office of the President has always approved the Vice President’s requests for travel authority.
Castro noted that in just less than a month, Duterte went to four countries – the Netherlands, Qatar, Malaysia and Australia.
“If our Vice President is busy with her personal trips, that’s the Vice President’s choice… Whatever she is doing now as Vice President, this is what the people see in what she is doing as an elected leader of the country,” the Palace official added.
