Vice President Sara Duterte appears to have a tendency to criticize the House of Representatives to cover up her supposed shortcomings.

Thus, said Manila 2nd district Rep. Rolando Valeriano as he clapped back at the lady official over her latest tirades against the lower chamber.

“Lagi na lang kapag may issue sa kanya, ang ituturo niya, Kongreso. Siguro dapat niya sagutin saan napunta ‘yung confidential fund. Di ho ba bakit masama ang performance o bakit malamya ang performance ng DepEd during her time?" Valeriano said in a press conference Thursday, Aug. 21.

(Whenever there’s an issue involving her, she always points to Congress. Maybe she should answer where the confidential fund went. Isn’t it true that the performance of DepEd during her time was poor or lackluster?)

Vice President Duterte served as DepEd chief from June 2022 to July 2024.

Earlier this year, the lady official was impeached by the House of Representatives, with one of the grounds being her alleged misuse of P612.5 million worth of confidential funds.

Vice President Duterte recently claimed that that only two lawmakers and their allies decide on what happens with the national budget--something that didn't sit well with Valeriano.

“Masyadong mababa naman ‘yung tingin ng Vice President sa Kongreso kung nasabi niyang dalawa o iilang tao. Ang nag-aapprove po ng budget ay ang buong Kongreso (The Vice President seems to have a very low regard for Congress if she said it was just two or a few people. It is the entire Congress that approves the budget),” he said.

“So siguro po ‘yung kinakalat ni Vice President na ‘yan eh mukhang lies na naman po, mukhang kasinungalingan para pagtakpan niya ‘yung ibang mga kapalpakan niya (So perhaps what the Vice President is spreading again looks like lies, seemingly falsehoods to cover up some of her own failures),” the Manila solon said.

Incidentally, the House began its deliberations on the P6.793-trillion National Expenditure Program (NEP)--the basis of the 2026 national budget--earlier this week.

During her two-year stint as DepEd chief, Duterte drew mounting criticism for the agency’s dismal performance, marked by low budget utilization, poor learning outcomes and failure to address the education crisis.

Valeriano said her attempt to shift the blame to Congress is both unfair and misleading.

“Huwag na niyang idamay ang buong Kongreso para pagtakpan po ‘yung mga ganung kapalpakan niya (She shouldn’t drag the entire Congress into it just to cover up those kinds of failures),” Valeriano said.

“Eh ang Kongreso po nananahimik and every time meron siyang magiging problema, ituturo po niya lagi ‘yung Kongreso. So parang mali naman po ‘yun (Congress has been quiet, and every time she faces a problem, she always points to Congress. That seems wrong),” he added.