VP Sara can't be prevented from taking foreign trips—Palace
Malacañang said Vice President Sara Duterte cannot be prevented from going abroad as long as she was cleared to travel.
Vice President Sara Duterte (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)
Palace Press Officer and Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said this when asked if all of Duterte's trips were approved by the Office of the President as the Vice President has outnumbered the President's foreign trips this year.
"Iyong travel po ng Bise Presidente, natuloy din po iyong sa Kuwait, iyan naman po ay may travel authority, so hindi naman po siya mapipigilang umalis sa mga araw na gusto niyang umalis. So, cleared naman po iyon, may travel authority po (The Vice President’s travel, including the one to Kuwait, also pushed through, and that had the necessary travel authority, so she cannot be prevented from leaving on the days she chooses to. So that was cleared, there was travel authority)," Castro said in a Palace briefing on Wednesday, Aug. 20.
Asked if the Palace favors the call from lawmakers to release all travel records of public officials, including the Vice President's, Castro said it is actually their obligation to do so.
"Obligasyon naman po nila iyon, kung gusto po nilang ilabas (That is their obligation if they want to make it public)," Castro said.
The Palace official made President Marcos' foreign trips as an example, which he publicizes from departure to arrival.
"Basta po ang Pangulo kapag po lumalabas alam naman po ng media at ipinapaalam po at nagre-report ng mga pangyayari at kanyang maaaring nakuha na mga investments at para sa mga turismo, nagre-report po ang Pangulo (As for the President, whenever he travels abroad, the media is informed, and he reports on the events and the possible investments he has secured as well as matters concerning tourism—the President provides a report)," Castro said.
Duterte's recent trip was to Paris, France after attending a gathering with overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Kuwait last Aug. 15.