Demand that President Marcos fulfill his campaign promise of a P20-per-kilo rice, Vice President Sara Duterte said on late Sunday night, Nov. 24.

(From left) President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte during the Brigada Eskwela in Manila last Aug. 14, 2023. (Ali Vicoy/MANILA BULLETIN)

Among other things, the official asked the public when she went live on Facebook to call for accountability and demand that campaign promises be met and fulfilled.

“Ang lagi kong panawagan sa taong bayan ay hingiin, i-demand sa gobyerno na ibigay nila ang serbisyo na karapat-dapat para sa mga Pilipino. Simulan natin sa mga campaign promises (My call is for the public to ask, demand from the government to give due service to the Filipinos. Let’s start with fulfilling their campaign promises),” she said.

“Dapat po pag ang pulitiko ay nag-promise na magbibigay ng P20 per kilo na bigas, dapat ay tinutupad ‘yon dahil binoto ka ng mga tao base sa sa mga sinabi mo (When a politician promised to provide P20-per-kilo rice, this should happen because you were voted by the people based on what you said),” she added.

In 2022, Duterte ran as Marcos’ running mate under the banner of unity. They went on to win in a landslide, with one of the President’s campaign promises to lower rice prices to P20 per kilo as a focal point for their supporters.

But until now, the Marcos administration has only offered its P29 “Rice For All” program in the “Kadiwa ng Pangulo” centers and are accessible only to select beneficiaries.

The Vice President, whose supporters have been camping outside the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in support of Duterte and her embattled chief-of-staff, Office of the Vice President (OVP) Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez, said that Filipinos shouldn’t be suffering and that the government has to prove its excellence in upholding justice, human rights, peace, and progress.

“Dapat hinihingi natin sa ating pamahalaan ang karapat-dapat para sa isang maunlad at mapayapang lipunan (We should be demanding from our government what we need for a progressive and peaceful society),” she added.

Duterte has been accompanying Lopez in the hospital after the latter had a panic attack and collapsed while at the House of Representatives’ detention facility.

Lopez, who faced the House good government committee last Nov. 21, was cited in contempt and subsequently detained for “undue interference” after she admitted to asking the state auditors not to heed the committee’s subpoena for the OVP’s audit reports.

The committee is looking at alleged misuse of confidential funds by the OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd) when Duterte was still its secretary.

The Nov. 21 hearing was the first time Lopez appeared before the lawmakers, while Duterte and other OVP executives have repeatedly refused to attend the hearing.

The last time the Vice President faced the committee was during a surprise appearance on its first hearing last Sept. 18.