Filipinos vented their disappointment for Vice President Sara Duterte after images showing her and her family catching a flight out of the country circulated online on Wednesday.
The hashtags #NasaanAngBisePresidente, #SaraDuterte, and #DesignatedSurvivor immediately trended on X after a news report showed Duterte at the airport and purportedly bound for Germany.
Duterte’s departure amid Super Typhoon Carina’s wrath, which left Metro Manila and nearby provinces in Luzon submerged, apparently drew the ire of netizens.
A national broadsheet reported that Duterte left the country with her husband, their children, and her mother Elizabeth Zimmerman.
According to the report, the plane carrying the Dutertes left the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 at 1:50 a.m. on Wednesday.
The Office of the Vice President has yet to announce the reason for Duterte’s flight but sent a press release with photos and videos showing some of its staffers preparing to conduct relief efforts for families affected by the typhoon in the National Capital Region and Calabarzon.
“The OVP-DOC (Disaster Operations Center) is currently coordinating with different local government units (LGUs) in the areas affected by Typhoon Carina for the conduct of its relief operations,” the OVP said in an online statement.
The OVP also said it was just waiting for a greenlight from the Office of Civil Defense to begin the distribution of its prepositioned relief packs, which contained food items as well as hygiene kits, blankets, sleeping mats, mosquito nets, slippers, expandable water jugs, and other necessities.
Irked by her actions, some social media users could not avoid comparing Duterte with her predecessor, former Vice President Leni Robredo, who was constantly busy doing public service during her tenure at the OVP.
News of the incumbent Vice President’s overseas trip spread one day after she called public attention to the recall of some 75 of her police bodyguards.
It was earlier reported that Duterte had as many as 433 personnel in her security detail in 2022.
