Palace: VP Sara Duterte should start with herself if she wants better manners

Vice President Sara Duterte should start with herself if she does not want to hear name-calling and ad hominem attacks, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said on Wednesday.

In a press briefing, Castro was asked to respond to Duterte's statement posted on her official Facebook account on Wednesday, wherein she criticized the name-calling during her impeachment trial.

“Mas maganda rin po na kung ayaw makarinig ng ad hominem, mag-start din po sa mga taong nagsasalita ng masasama, worst o masasamang pag-describe sa kapwa tao," she said.

(It is better that if one does not want to hear ad hominem attacks, it should start with those who use bad or hurtful descriptions of other people.)

"Siguro dapat magsimula kay Bise Presidente na maging magalang din sa pananalita para hindi rin naibabalik sa kanya,” Castro added.

(Perhaps the Vice President should start by being more respectful in the way she speaks so that the same treatment will not be thrown back at her.)

GMA News Online has reached out to Duterte for comment and will update this story once her camp responds.

In her earlier statement, Duterte said: "A strong case does not need the adornment of theatrics. A Senator calling a witness 'stupid,' a lawyer calling me the 'mastermind of a scam' or another witness referring to me as a 'brat,' does not prove a case, nor does it produce evidence."

"Insults reveal the need to feign confidence in the face of a weak presentation," she added.

The Vice President was referring to recent developments in her ongoing impeachment trial, during which such statements were made by senator-judges, prosecutors and witnesses.

Castro, however, said neither the Palace nor President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. tolerated destructive words or ad hominem attacks.

She, however, conceded that terms such as “mastermind” and “scam” were not conducive to court proceedings when used to refer to a specific person.

“So for me as a lawyer, it should not be used. But you can use that in some other ways that are not directed at a particular person,” Castro said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Castro also rejected Duterte’s characterization of the impeachment complaints against her as baseless, saying the prosecution had presented strong evidence.

The evidence showed that Duterte was aware of what was happening with her confidential funds, Castro said.

“Mas lalong naipakita ang ibang ebidensiya kung saan ang Bise Presidente ang siyang may alam mula sa pagwi-withdraw ng pera, mula hanggang sa paggastos, hanggang sa pagbibigay ng report,” Castro said.

(The evidence further showed that the Vice President knew about the process, from the withdrawal of the money to its spending and the submission of the report.)— MCG, GMA News