Senator Christopher “Bong” Go has expressed his full support to Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte, as he trumpeted her integrity as a public servant and her proper use of public funds for the people.

Go made the remark just after Duterte, for the second time, addressed the issues thrown against her offices’ sought confidential funds.

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 of protecting the country’s economy because of the Israel-Hamas and Ukraine-Russia conflicts.

In a statement, Go said that he supports Duterte in her role as Department of Education (DepEd) secretary, including her goal of providing quality education to the youth and ensuring their safety.

He added that she already proved this as a former mayor of Davao City wherein she chaired the City Peace and Order Council and was a member of the Regional Peace and Order Council. This paved the way for a peaceful and insurgency-free city including the whole Davao region, he said.

As the current vice chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), Duterte has continuously shown her bravery and concern toward championing the welfare of the people and fighting the bad elements in society, Go said. 

Go called for unity and cooperation in helping the government led by President Marcos and Duterte to achieve the aim of providing a resilient, comfortable, and safe country for Filipinos.

"As VP Sara said, given the global and local issues affecting our economy which adds to the burden carried by ordinary Filipinos, let us not succumb to bickering and politicking," Go said.

"Instead, let us be part of the solution and focus on the tasks at hand as public servants. Serbisyo muna bago pulitika (Service first before politics)," he added.