Vice President Sara Duterte is unsurprised that former president Rodrigo Duterte is being blamed for Metro Manila’s flooding, insisting that the floodwater should be collected and delivered to Malacañang.

“Kasi nga, sinabi ko na ang ginagawa nila is political scapegoating. Ibig sabihin, ayaw nila tanggapin iyong obligasyon, ayaw nila ibigay ang accountability sa mga problema tulad ng pagbaha (As I was saying, what they’re doing is political scapegoating. It means they don’t want to accept the obligations, they don’t want the accountability on the problems like flooding),” she said on Monday, July 21.

The official made the remarks during a chance interview with supporters outside The Hague’s detention facility in the Netherlands.

She explained that instead of blaming the past administration, the government should be trying to find out the cause of the floods and making plans on how to prevent it in the future.

“Ganon dapat ang sagot ng gobyero. Hindi yung magtuturo sila ng ibang tao. Kasi nililihis nila iyong attention ng tao sa totoong problema (That’s how the government should respond, instead of pointing at other people and trying to divert the people’s attention from the problem),” she added.

Responding to President Marcos’ call to collect floodwater and redirect it for agricultural use, she pointed out that the collected floodwater should be delivered straight to Malacañang instead.

“Ipunin po nating lahat tapos i-deliver natin sa Malacañang para may mainom siya, para meron silang mainom doon. Ganoon na po ang gagawin natin (Let us collect it [floodwater] and delivering it to Malacañang so he can drink it, so they can drink it. That’s what we’re going to do),” she advised.

The torrential rains caused by Typhoon Crising and the enhanced southwest monsoon (habagat) flooded most of Metro Manila and nearby provinces, causing widespread damage to public and private properties and affecting over one million Filipinos.

Six people have also been reported dead.

Duterte also admonished House of Representatives spokesperson Princess Abante for her comments regarding her father’s detention by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

As a spokesperson of the lower house, the Vice President advised Abante to focus on the issues of the House. Abante said that the ICC case was based on evidence and not from gossip as the younger Duterte claimed.

“So, ang dapat niyang tina-topic o ibinabahagi sa taumbayan ay kung ano yung nangyayari sa House of Representatives. Huwag na siyang sumawsaw (So, her topic or what she should share to the people is what’s happening in the House of Representatives. She should stop butting in). It's out of her league,” she said.

The official insisted that she is currently in The Hague, Netherlands as a “Filipino, as a Vice President of the Philippines” who is fighting for the rights of another Filipino, who was extradited to a foreign country.

“So ako, meron akong right, I have all the right to express my anger against what the administration of BBM did,” she added.

Duterte hit back as well at Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III, who called out Duterte supporters for lacking comprehension for easily believing fake and manipulated news items on social media.

Torre was reacting after pictures and videos of purported crimes during the previous administration circulated online recently and were used against President Marcos.

“Pag mayroong nagsasabi sa akin na baliw ako, or may nagsasabi sa akin na kahit ano, tulad niyan may nagsasabi sa atin ng bobo tayo, parang sabihin na lang natin (When someone tells me I’m crazy, when they call me different names, like now that someone’s calling as stupid, let’s just say), it takes one to know one,” the Vice President said.

“Kung bobo kami, bobo ka din. Tayo-tayo lang yan (If we are stupid, you are stupid, too. We’re all the same),” she added, eliciting laughter from the crowd.