Vice President Sara Duterte did not mince words as she defended her recent trips, saying that no public funds were used in her personal travel abroad and calling her critics “stupid” for questioning them.

“Alam mo kasi hindi nila naiintindihan, sorry ha, hindi ko nalam kung sinasadya nila ayaw nilang intindihin o talagang b*b* lang talaga ‘yung nasa administrasyon. I’d like to (lean) doon sa latter, kasi sa lahat ng mga desisyon nila lately (You know they don’t understand, I’m sorry, I don’t know if they’re being deliberately ignorant or those in the administration are really stupid. I’d like to lean to the latter because of all their decisions lately),” she said during a media interview in Pampanga on Wednesday, June 25.

The official slammed her critics, particularly the Palace, for questioning whether her trips were personal or for the country.

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) tagged her recent trips as “personal” because Duterte explained it meant she wasn’t using public funds for them.

“Kasi ‘pag personal, hindi ako gumagamit ng pera ng bayan. ‘Pag official, gumagamit ako ng pera ng bayan. Hindi ibig sabihin na personal na lakad ‘yan ay holiday o pamasyal ‘yan. So iyon ‘yung ibig sabihin ng personal, walang ginamit na pera ng gobyerno sa lakad na ito pero nagtatrabaho pa rin ako (When it’s personal, I don’t use public funds. When it’s official, I use public funds. When it’s personal, it doesn’t mean holiday or sightseeing. So, that’s what personal means, I’m not using public funds for this trip but I’m still working),” she explained.

The Vice President was recently in Australia to attend a “Free Duterte Now” rally there organized by the supporters of former president Rodrigo Duterte. She was also previously in Malaysia to attend another gathering.

“Kung hindi sila b*b*, maiintindihan nila ‘yung ginagawa ko, eh b*b* kasi sila eh kaya hindi nila naiintindihan. Umupo sila, tingnan nila. Hindi ko sasabihin kung ano ‘yung ginagawa (If they are not stupid, they would understand what I was doing, but they are stupid so they cannot understand. Sit down and think. I am not going to explain what I am doing) --- I don’t like talking about how I think and what I think. So kung mayroon silang gusto basahin doon, good luck (If they want to interpret it in another way, good luck),” she said.

Duterte also confirmed that after Malaysia and Australia, she will travel to South Korea and Kuwait, although her final schedule is still being finalized.

In the same interview, the official lamented the “state of the nation,” saying she’s embarrassed as a Filipino to think how other countries see the Philippines.