Vice Pres. Sara Duterte Reacts To Malacañang Calling her “A Complete Failure” as DepEd Chief
SARA DUTERTE – The Vice President reacted to the claim of Malacañang that branded her as “a complete failure” as a secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd).
Recently, at an event she attended in Kuwait, Vice Pres. Duterte criticized the Philippine education and compared it with those in abroad. According to her, the country allegedly lags behind when it comes to modernization while other nations already teach their students robotics and coding.
Duterte was speaking at the Hakbang ng Maisug event. The Vice President’s office stressed that Duterte’s travel to Kuwait is authorized and in line with her mandate as a government official. According to the OVP, they ensured that her trip does not violate any existing law.
The explanation of Duterte’s office came amid the criticisms against her frequent overseas trips. According to the OVP, the Vice President does not use public funds in all her travels abroad.
In her speech at the event in Kuwait, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte claimed that the Philippine education is allegedly stuck in “paper and pencil”. According to her, kids as young as three or four years old in other countries already know how to read while some high school students in the Philippines still do not know how to read.
Following her criticisms, Malacañang called the stint of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte as DepEd secretary “a complete failure”. According to Palace press officer undersecretary Claire Castro, Duterte should have solved her complaints against the PH education during her term when she was the chief of the education department.
Castro stressed that Pres. Bongbong Marcos trusted the Vice President and she was given two (2) years to serve as the DepEd Chief. Meanwhile, according to the Malacañang press officer, DepEd Sec. Sonny Angara is already cleaning the mess left behind by Vice Pres. Sara Duterte.
Based on a report on PhilStar, the Vice President further claimed that “we are truly behind in our education system compared to more developed countries around the world”.
Recently, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte also claimed that the statement of the Malacañang press official calling her stint as a DepEd secretary as “a complete failure” is allegedly opposite with the reaction of Pres. Bongbong Marcos when she tendered her resignation.
According to Vice Pres. Duterte, she does not understand where the claim that she is a failure as a DepEd secretary came from. She claimed that Pres. Marcos allegedly asked her to stay but she refused to.
Furthermore, Vice Pres. Sara Duterte also claimed that the next thing that Pres. Bongbong Marcos did was offered her a position but she also declined wanting any government position.
“He tried to ask me to stay, tapos sabi ko, ayoko na. And then ang sunod niyang ginawa, in-offeran niya ako, ‘May gusto ka ba na posisyon?’ Sabi ko, wala akong gustong posisyon,” the Vice President said.
Vice Pres. Sara Duterte also claimed that Pres. Bongbong Marcos allegedly asked her if she could help in the endorsement of the senators in the 2025 Midterm Elections but she did not commit to him saying she has no plans yet. According to the Vice President, those attempts supposedly showed that the Chief Executive wants her to reconsider her decision to resign.
“Hindi ‘yun actions ng taong tumitingin as failure ako. Action ‘yun ng taong tumitingin na kailangan niya ‘yung trabaho ko. So, hindi ko alam saan nangagaling ‘yung sinasabi nilang failure ako sa Department of Education Secretary,” Duterte said.
However, aside from Malacañang, another House solon called Vice Pres. Sara Duterte as allegedly the “worst DepEd secretary ever” after her criticisms towards the PH education.