Vice President Sara Duterte cast doubt on President Marcos' pronouncement in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) that those allegedly linked to the flood control scandal, including his cousin, former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, would be put behind bars.

Duterte said Marcos has made promises before, "but were they actually fulfilled?"

In an interview at The Hague in the Netherlands, the Vice President pointed out that none of the promises to jail those involved before Christmas last year came true.

"Di ba 'yan din yung sinabi niya last year, bago mag-December may makukulong na. So meron bang makulong bago mag-Christmas (Wasn't that what he also said last year, that before December ended, someone would already be in jail? So, was anyone jailed before Christmas)?" the Vice President questioned.

"So huwag niyo na i-expect na makulong 'yang dating speaker o mga members ng House of Representatives (So don't expect the former Speaker or the members of the House of Representatives to be jailed)," Duterte added.

In his fifth SONA on Monday, July 27, Marcos disclosed that, according to the Ombudsman, multiple cases against a former House Speaker are now nearing filing.

"Masakit man sa akin ito, pero kailangan nating gawin ang tama (Painful as this may be for me, we have to do what is right),” he said in his speech.

While it was the President who exposed the anomalies surrounding the flood control system in the country, the Vice President said he cannot distance himself from the scandal.

"Unfortunately, hindi niya pwedeng gawin na ilayo niya yung sarili niya doon sa corruption sa flood control scandal kasi siya yung pumirma ng budget (he cannot distance himself from the corruption in the flood control scandal because he was the one who signed the budget)," Duterte argued.

The Vice President pointed out that it was one of the grounds cited in the impeachment case against him.

"Yun yung impeachable offense don. Pumirma ka ng budget na alam mo madaming insertions. Na alam mo yung NEP mo hindi na siya yung lumabas na GAA (That's the impeachable offense: you signed a budget even though you knew it contained numerous insertions. You knew that your National Expenditure Program (NEP) was no longer the same as the General Appropriations Act (GAA) that was enacted)," Duterte said.

"At kahit pa man na nakikita mo na mayroong anomalya doon, pinirmahan mo ka rin yung budget. Kaya hindi niya pwedeng ilayo yung sarili niya just by saying na ako yung Presidente na nagsabi na mahiya naman kayo at ako yung Presidente na nagpakulong (And even if you saw there were anomalies in it, you still signed the budget. So he can't distance himself simply by saying, 'I'm the President who said: You should be ashamed and I'm the President who had people jailed, because no one has been jailed)," Duterte added.

The Vice President also tagged the "mahiya naman kayo" statement of the President in his fourth SONA as a mere "PR stunt" and accused the President of using such a pronouncement in an attempt to distance himself from the anomalies.

"At saka, yung sinabi niya na mahiya naman kayo, it was a PR stunt na sinali nila yung linya na yun sa speech niya na nag-backfire (And when he said: You should be ashamed, that was a PR stunt. They inserted that line into his speech, but it backfired)," Duterte said.

"So, sinasabi niya na lang 'yan ngayon na parang ako yung nagsabi ng mahiya naman kayo para mailayo niya yung sarili niya doon sa flood control scandal (So now he's saying that to distance himself from the flood control scandal)," Duterte added.

Like last year, Duterte did not watch the President's SONA again. She also said she had no plans to read it.

"Hindi ako nanood ng SONA like last year and wala akong plano basahin ang nilalaman ng SONA o kahit man ng summary (I did not watch the SONA like last year, and I have no plan of reading the contents of the SONA  or even the summary)," the Vice President said.

"Dahil (Because) I truly believe it is a waste of time of the Filipino people," she added.

She cited the lack of results from the President's pronouncements on flood control corruption as a reason for skipping the SONA.

"May makukulong before Christmas. Tinupad ba hindi? So bakit pa kayo naniniwala at nanonood ng SONA (Someone will be jailed before Christmas. Was that fulfilled? So why do you still believe it and watch the SONA)?" she said.