In what would be the second time she addressed the issues thrown against her offices’ confidential funds, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte on Wednesday, Oct. 18, called for unity among Filipinos and warned them against more difficulties posed by global conflicts.

Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte (Photo from Inday Sara Duterte/Facebook)

In a statement, the official thanked her supporters who posted green ribbons with the word “Sara” on their social media profiles.

“May oras para sa lahat at hindi ito ang panahon ng paninira at pamumulitika lalo na malayo pa ang susunod na eleksyon. Higit na mahalaga ang ating pagkakaisa, pagtutulungan, at pagiging handa para tiyaking ang ating mga pamilya ay ligtas at matatag sa darating na mga buwan (There is a time for everything and this is not the time for defamation and politicking especially since the next elections are still far. Unity, cooperation, and preparedness are more important to ensure that our families are safe and stable in the coming months),” she said.

“Maraming salamat sa mga gumawa ng green ribbons bilang pagpapahayag ng supporta sa akin (Thank you to the one who made the green ribbons to express support for me),” she added.

However, Duterte said that while she understands her supporters’ “frustration” and “anger” amid the budget and confidential fund issues thrown against her, she stressed that the challenges of politicking are “small” compared to the bigger challenge to the country’s economy because of the Israel-Hamas and Ukraine-Russia conflicts.

“Hinihikayat ko ang bawat isa sa inyo na tutukan ang paghahanda sa darating na panahon ng taghirap lalo na sa patuloy na pagtaas ng presyo ng pagkain at iba pang bilihin (I am encouraging each of you to focus on preparing for future difficulties especially in the continuous rise of the prices of food and other products),” her statement read.

The official thanked Filipinos for their “unwavering support” to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd).

“Ang inyong matatag na paniniwala sa kahalagahan ng aking trabaho at sa positibong pagbabago na aking maidambag sa pag-unlad ng ating bansa ay siyang nagbibigay lakas at inspirasyon sa akin upang magpatuloy sa pagserbisyo sa ating bayan (Your strong belief in the importance of my work and the positive changes that I can contribute to the prosperity of our country gives me strength and inspiration to continue serving our country),” Duterte said.

Aside from a recent speech wherein she called critics of her offices’ confidential funds “enemy of the state,” this is the second time she talked about the issues thrown against her.

It also came after her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, lambasted her critics and called out the House of Representatives, including House Speaker Martin Romualdez, for the attacks against the Vice President.

Earlier, the House appropriations committee announced that it was stripping her combined P650-million—P500 million for the OVP and P150 million for DepEd—proposed confidential funds for 2024.

These funds would be realigned to agencies concerned with ensuring security in the West Philippine Sea.

Amid these, annual audit reports from the Commission on Audit (COA) from 2016 to 2022 showed that the local government of Davao City during Duterte’s tenure as mayor had been allocated a staggering P2.697 billion in confidential funds, or P460 million a year.

This amount was larger than the confidential funds received by the country’s wealthiest cities, such as Quezon City (P435 million) and Makati City (P1.25 billion).