CASSaba: When the Green Eagle Plummeted

Vice President Sara Duterte, often referred to as the Eagle of the South, is once again faced in a world of trouble. Merely two years after winning, multiple controversies have seeped through, creating cracks in her mighty public figure. True enough, the higher you fly, the harder you fall.


If we trail back to June 19, 2022, the VP was inaugurated as the Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd). Having the second-highest post in the country was an arduous task in itself, but Her Excellency decided to top it with a position she was not even familiar with. Several critics pinpointed that the position was not suited for her, given the fact that she had no prior experience working in the academe. Let’s just say that some of her decisions as the DepEd Secretary had been a little bit odd, to say the least. She gave directives to remove all the materials in the walls of the classrooms, including visual aids and other paraphernalia. The reason why? Well, nobody really knows. No research backing the said order—just some lousy leader trying to exercise her newfound power.


Why pick a struggle when she can have them all?

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) spent a whopping 125 million pesos in confidential funds in just 11 days in the fiscal year 2022. That insane amount, combined with the short time in which it was used, is enough to turn every Filipino into a curious cat. But when asked about it, she just vaguely answered that the funds would be utilized as government resources for unforeseen challenges which include but are not limited to, terrorism or safeguarding the nation as a whole. When asked for a breakdown of how swiftly they spent those millions, VP Sara kept on blabbering irrelevant information just to drag the issue. On the contrary, the former OVP under Leni Robredo did not allocate even a single centavo for these confidential funds. This just shows how alarming the current state of affairs is, with leaders easily slipping through our National Budget and acquiring such amounts without thorough auditing by using the “confidential” card. And oh, did I mention that she vacated the position of DepEd Secretary just a few days after the issue erupted? Coincidence? I don’t think so.


Politicizing?!

Green eagle was once again the center-front of the news after a heated exchange with Sen. Risa Hontiveros during the Senate Budget deliberations last August 20, during this year’s proposed budget of the OVP. It is fascinating how the VP turned the budget hearing into a comedic spectacle when asked about her book. Hontiveros, cutesy and demure as always, inquired about the content of ‘Isang Kaibigan,’ to which the VP responded in a very unprofessional manner. Instead of answering the simple question, she proceeded to claim that the senator was politicizing the matter through her questions. Social media platforms were flooded with netizens posting videos attempting to recreate the book’s design, and to tell you frankly, the resemblance is uncanny. Ten million pesos for the distribution of a book supposedly about ‘Friendship,’ riddled with publishing errors, hardly seems worth it, especially when its creator flaunts a not-so-friendly vibe whenever money matters are brought up.


Shimenet on Repeat

Exactly a week after her hilarious stint in the Senate, Inday Sara was once again summoned by the House of Representatives’ Appropriations Committee as a Resource Speaker for the 2025 Budget of the OVP. This time, instead of seriously addressing their questions, she pulled another trick up her sleeve: the Broken Record card. “Madam Chair, I would like to forgo the opportunity to defend the budget in a question-and-answer format. I will leave it up to the House to decide on the budget submitted”. This two-liner statement is the only response the VP provided for all the questions despite the varying topics and focus asked by the Congress. From a budget of 1.88 billion pesos this year to a jaw-dropping 2.037 billion pesos proposal for 2025, meticulous scrutiny of the use of these public funds is a must. But ‘short hair, don’t care’ as her farfetched answers to even the simplest of questions border on absurdity. “She may not like the way I answer…” YES! We don’t. Even in beauty pageants, prepared answers get booed by the audience, yet here she is, reading a repeated answer from a piece of paper. Dodging these questions does not make her “a genius,” as shrieked by DDS netizens online, but rather makes her out to be a coward who shakes in front of truth and transparency.


As issues and public scrutiny continue to clip the wings of the eagle, it becomes impossible to see it soar towards greater heights. People are grappling with skyrocketing prices of basic commodities, yet we have the second-in-line to the Presidency utilizing funds for purposes that still remain a mystery—a pickpocket in plain sight, yet the first to get angry when interrogated. Despite her strong character, the VP’s composure is easily shaken by banters (which are often true). An eagle flying solo after the ‘match made in hell’ tandem of Uniteam was broken down due to their conflicting ideals. Sides are shifting, yet the VP remains problematic. Where does she go from here? The remaining four years will be a long haul under her leadership, filled with issues sprouting from her negative demeanor and questionable decisions. Filipinos cry for genuine public service accompanied by transparency from their elected officials.