Malacañang believes that the Philippines will indeed be headed to the dumpster if Vice President Sara Duterte becomes president, saying she is putting the welfare of a single person over that of the people she vowed to serve.

Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said this after the Vice President stated the country was on its way to the dumpster as Filipinos were supposedly already losing hope following the arrest and surrender of her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on March 11.

In a press briefing on Wednesday, March 26, the Palace Press Officer said it would be difficult for everybody if a leader spent more time overseas than in the country.

"Hindi ba mas magiging mapupunta tayo sa dumpster kung ang magiging pangulo natin, o ang magiging leader natin, ay ang katulad nila VP Sara (Wouldn't we be more headed to the dumpster if our president or leader is the likes of Vice President Sara)?," she said.

"Mas inuuna pang magpunta sa abroad, magsilbi sa isang tao, although tatay nya po yun, pero marami pa rin pong Pilipino na umaasa sa kanya bilang bise presidente (She's chose to go abroad and serve a singe person, although that's her father, but many Filipinos rely on her as the vice president)," she added.

According to Castro, Vice President Duterte, who is currently in the Netherlands, should do her job.

"Obligasyon po niya maging bise presidente. Alam niya po dapat ang obligasyon bilang bise presidente (It's her obligation to act as a vice president and she should know what her job is)," she said.

"Sabi nga natin ang Pangulo natin, na sinasabi niya na mukhang wala na tayong pag-asa, nasa Pilipinas, nagtatrabaho. Araw-araw, may ina-anunsyo tayong good news. Pero ang bise presidente, nasaan (As we said, the President, whom she believed is causing Filipinos to lose hope, is in the Philippines and is working. We are announcing good news daily. But the Vice President, where is she)?" she added.

Castro said the Vice President could accuse the administration of leading the country down the road to perdition as she chose not to inform herself of the government's initiatives.

"Hindi niya naman nakikita kung ano ang mga ginagawa, mga proyekto, programa na isagawa na at naitulong ng pamahalaan sa taong bayan dahil malamang ay hindi siya nanunood ng ating press briefing everyday (She doesn't know the projects and programs that we've been doing to help the people because she's probably not watching our daily press briefings)," she said.

"Talagang mabubulagan siya kapag hindi po niya inaalam kung ano ang naging trabaho at magiging trabaho ng administrasyon sa pangunguna ni Pangulong Marcos (She will really be blinded if she is not making herself aware of what job the administration has been doing)," she added.

This was not the first time Castro has questioned Vice President Sara Duterte's capacity to lead the country. Early this week, she said a person with many secrets—like the Vice President—can not lead.

"Hindi po mas kakayanin ng isang tao na mamuno na maraming inililihim, maraming itinatago, at hindi nagpapakita ng anumang dokumento more particularly about the funds (A person cannot lead if she's keeping many secrets and cannot present any document related to funds)," the Palace official said.

With this, Castro urged the Vice President anew to clarify her use of funds, especially following the discovery of more dubious names in the list of the recipients of her confidential funds.

"We believe that VP Sara has the obligation to tell something about this—to tell something about these discoveries," she said.

"So mas mabuti po, sinasabi naman po niya na dapat po tayo ay may transparency, mas maganda po na mauna po siya na ipaliwanag ito (Since she's pushing for transparency, it would be better if she's the first to explain)," she added.