I owe Sara Duterte an apology — not for criticizing her, but for assuming she was a serious vice president in the first place. My in my previous blog was using normal standards: governance, policy, integrity, competence, respect for institutions. Those are unfair metrics for someone whose vice presidency looked more like a live-action cautionary tale than a functioning public office. So to be “fair” to her, I’ve decided to lower my bar to the only level where she has a fighting chance: the floor.

From here on, I’m grading Sara Duterte not as a national leader, but as a political phenomenon — judged on ten ultra-low “performance indicators” designed specifically for what she actually offered the country.

My old standards were the problem

When she became vice president and DepEd secretary, I evaluated her the way you’d normally evaluate any second-highest official of the land:

• Did she improve education?

• Did she strengthen institutions?

• Did she govern with basic honesty and accountability?

• Did she stabilize politics, or at least not make things worse?

Looking back now, those questions feel almost cute. We got impeachment drama, confidential and intelligence funds controversies, DepEd branded a “complete failure,” public meltdowns, and a vice president whose biggest legacy may be teaching voters what not to do in 2028. So yes — the problem was my standards. I treated her like a stateswoman. That’s on me.

Time to correct that.

Here are the new, much fairer, much lower metrics where Sara Duterte can finally be evaluated on her own terms.

“Basta present, ok na”

I used to expect leadership; now I’m just checking attendance. Did she show up to something vaguely resembling work — an event, a speech, a photo op, a ceremonial function? That’s a point.

Whether anything of substance happened there is now officially outside the scope of this evaluation. I no longer ask, “What did she accomplish while present?” I just ask, “Was she physically there and not yet on a plane, in a rally, or somewhere defending the family name?”

By this standard, she performed decently. Congratulations, Madam Vice President. You were seen.

“At least hindi daily outrage”

My old metric: Does she reduce political noise and help stabilize the country? My new metric: How many days can we go without a brand-new Sara-induced gulo?

Impeachment complaints, Supreme Court interventions, public rants that trigger legal discussions, and talk of threats, plots, and political crucifixions — at some point, it started to feel like a teleserye with unlimited extensions. So fine, I’ll lower the bar: if we get a full week of relative quiet where she isn’t at the center of a fresh institutional crisis, I’ll count that as an achievement in “national stability.”

Leadership? No. But reduced frequency of chaos? That, apparently, is the new win.

“Nagastos naman yung pera”

Once upon a time, I believed public funds should be:

• Transparent

• Audited

• Clearly linked to measurable public benefit

Then came the confidential and intelligence funds debate, questions about where money went, and the broader perception that her offices were not exactly models of clean, accountable spending. So I adjusted my expectations: I no longer ask, “Did this spending substantially improve people’s lives?” I now ask, “May label ba at may mukhang project?”

If the money can be wrapped in a program name, a tarpaulin, a press release, or a line item — that now counts as “responsible use” under my fully downgraded Sara-specific rubric. Anything more demanding would be unfair, right?

“Hindi mas lumala (masyado)”

DepEd was already in deep trouble before she arrived. Chronic problems, underfunding, learning gaps — the crisis was well-established. When she took over and then left, what we got was a tenure publicly described from the Palace side as a complete failure in education leadership.

So here’s the softer test: Did the institution completely collapse beyond recognition under her watch? If the answer is “No, it was a mess but it still exists,” then under this downgraded standard, she passes.

I used to hope a vice president at DepEd would help fix the system. Now I treat “status quo damage with political side effects” as a kind of accomplishment. Again: that’s my compromise, for fairness.

“Consistent branding”

I once looked for vision. Now I just look for branding.

Sara Duterte’s tenure has been many things, but if there is one area of relative consistency, it’s her chosen persona: strong, persecuted, unwilling to bend, a magnet for the aggrieved and the accused. Policies may be vague, contradictions may pile up, strategies may be unclear — but the story of victimhood and defiance stays remarkably stable.

So I’ve decided to judge her not as a stateswoman but as a brand manager. On that front, she did well. The story never really changed: “I’m under attack; I’m standing firm.” Whether that helped the country is a separate — and, under this new rubric, irrelevant — question.

“Free public lesson”

Even if you think she failed as a vice president, you can’t say she contributed nothing. She gave the country an expensive but very clear lesson on:

• What happens when you vote mainly on last names, machinery, and vibes

• How far dynasties will go to protect themselves

• How fragile institutions can be when personalities override systems

As a governance project, her vice presidency is hard to defend. As a crash course for voters, though? Absolutely effective. People who once said “Wala namang mawawala kung siya ang VP” are now watching impeachment sagas, institutional battles, and public meltdowns in HD.

“Basic honesty (optional)”

Honesty used to be a non-negotiable requirement for me. Now, in this extra-kind grading system, it’s more like an elective subject.

The new standard is modest:

• Occasional moments where her statements aren’t the direct opposite of earlier claims

• Defenses that unintentionally reveal more than they meant to hide

• Explanations that crumble under basic fact-checking, but at least show us the script being used

I’m no longer asking for consistent, principled truth-telling. I’m just watching how her public line shifts under pressure, and giving partial credit whenever reality and rhetoric accidentally intersect.

When you lower the bar that far, even her defensive presscons start looking like unplanned transparency.

“Minimum respect for institutions”

A vice president is supposed to work with institutions — Congress, the cabinet, the education bureaucracy, the presidency — not just around or against them. With Sara Duterte, what we often saw was tension: confidential funds defended to the hilt, impeachment battles, and a Supreme Court ruling that voided the very process meant to examine her conduct.

So I’ve set a humbler metric:

• Days when she does not openly insult, threaten, or undermine an institution

• Moments when she grudgingly submits to procedures (even if she frames it as persecution)

On this scale, even the absence of a fresh attack counts as “institutional cooperation.” That’s how generous my new grading system has become.

“Abroad for all the wrong reasons”

This one deserves special attention.

From mid‑2024 to around late 2025, she was abroad a lot — enough that she had to read out a list of her overseas trips in Congress: Germany, Denmark, multiple trips to Japan, Hong Kong, the Netherlands (several times), Qatar, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Australia, South Korea, Kuwait, France, Belgium, and more. Some tallies put her foreign travel at about 17–19 trips within that window.

The deeper pattern matters: a detailed review found that at least 12 of 17 known trips in 2025 were tied to her father’s ICC case and “Free Duterte”–style activities — rallies in The Hague, community events wrapped around the “bring Duterte home” narrative, appearances in Australia, Qatar, South Korea, France, Kuwait, and others. She spent roughly 61 days abroad that year for those father-centered missions alone.

On paper, she could say, “Ako ang gumastos,” and she did insist that her own tickets and per diem were personally funded. But the OVP’s own numbers tell another part of the story: ₱20.68 million spent on her local and foreign trips from January to July 2025, including ₱7.47 million for foreign travel in that period, plus around ₱7.4 million just for security details on those overseas trips. She may have paid for her seat; the Filipino public still paid to move the entire official machinery around her.

My old standard was simple: a vice president’s foreign travel should advance Philippine interests, bring home concrete gains, and reflect a coherent public role. My new, lowered standard is kinder: at least now we know clearly who benefited the most from all that time and money spent overseas — and it wasn’t the average Filipino.

“Managed public outbursts”

This one is where my original expectations failed the hardest.

We have seen public outbursts, aggressive rants, language that raised security and character concerns, and threats or imagery that pushed people to ask: is this how a vice president should behave? Lawmakers and commentators called these out as character flaws and warned that institutions should not “adjust” to her temper, with the DOJ even studying possible legal action after one rant.

My old metric: Does she model emotional maturity, restraint, and dignity worthy of the office?
My new metric: Did we get through this week without her publicly fantasizing about violence, framing legal processes as a crucifixion, or escalating a feud into a national spectacle?

I now treat basic self-control in front of a microphone as a milestone, not a minimum. That is how far down I’ve had to drag my standards so that she can occasionally pass.

So, was I unfair to her before?

If I judge Sara Duterte as a vice president in the traditional sense — judged on governance, reform, institutional strengthening, and moral authority — then my original article stands. The record of impeachment drama, a failed stint at DepEd, weeks spent abroad championing her father’s case while her own office was under fire, millions in travel-related costs, and a series of public meltdowns speaks loudly for itself.

But if I judge her on this newly calibrated, Sara-only scale —

• Basta present

• Fewer crises than a daily quota

• May project name kahit questionable

• Hindi tuluyang gumuho ang institution

• Strong, consistent branding

• A very effective cautionary tale

• Occasional accidental honesty

• Minimal institutional sabotage on some days

• Out-of-country time largely dedicated to one detainee’s story, efficiently subsidized by the public

• And tantrums that only sometimes cross certain lines

Then yes, I must admit: by these standards, she performed… as expected.

So here is my “apology”: I was wrong to treat her like a serious vice president. Going forward, I will evaluate Sara Duterte the only way that truly fits her legacy — not as a leader we can trust with power, but as a warning we can’t afford to ignore again.

SOURCES:

1. Sara Duterte’s DepEd leadership is a ‘complete failure’ – Palace
   https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2098154/sara-dutertes-deped-leadership-is-a-complete-failure-palace

2. VP Sara's DepEd stint a 'complete failure'—Palace
   https://mb.com.ph/2025/08/20/vp-saras-deped-stint-a-complete-failurepalace

3. Palace says VP Sara's tenure as DepEd chief a complete failure
   https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/956500/palace-says-vp-sara-s-tenure-as-deped-chief-a-complete-failure/story/

4. Sara on claims she 'failed' as DepEd chief: Why did Marcos want me to stay?
   https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/956541/sara-on-claims-she-failed-as-deped-chief-why-did-marcos-want-me-to-stay/story/

5. Sara Duterte rejects Palace claim her DepEd stint a ‘complete failure’
   https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/8/21/sara-duterte-denies-deped-stint-a-complete-failure-claims-marcos-asked-her-to-stay-1519

6. Sara Duterte's DepEd leadership is a ‘complete failure’ – Palace | INQToday (video)
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMC7hkH14Os

7. Palace says VP Sara's DepEd stint a 'complete failure' (Manila Bulletin video)
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9qg3ceyVxY

8. Impeachment probe of Philippine VP Sara Duterte voided by Supreme Court
   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/25/impeachment-probe-of-philippine-vp-sara-duterte-voided-by-supreme-court

9. Impeachment of Sara Duterte – Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impeachment_of_Sara_Duterte

10. Supreme Court upholds 'unconstitutionality' of VP Sara impeachment
    https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2026/01/29/2504370/supreme-court-upholds-unconstitutionality-vp-sara-impeachment

11. VP Sara Duterte's outburst shows flaw in her character – Acop
    https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1994908/vp-sara-dutertes-outburst-shows-flaw-in-her-character-acop

12. VP Sara Duterte's outburst shows flaw in her character (video)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq-KhCI_zZI

13. Sara Duterte’s character flaws
    https://www.bicolmail.net/single-post/sara-duterte-s-character-flaws

14. Lawmaker: VP Duterte's sense of decency is lost
    https://thecitypost.net/lawmaker-vp-dutertes-sense-of-decency-is-lost/

15. Sara Duterte: Philippines' political feud takes a dramatic turn
    https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gzn4j0g20o

16. Philippines' Vice President Sara Duterte sparks controversy with assassination threats
    https://hdff.org/philippines-vice-president-sara-duterte-sparks-controversy-with-assassination-threats/

17. DOJ studying legal action on VP rant
    https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1995134/doj-studying-legal-action-on-vp-rant

18. House won't 'adjust' to VP Duterte, says Acop
    https://mb.com.ph/2024/10/21/house-won-t-adjust-to-vp-duterte-says-acop

19. Sara Duterte – Wikipedia
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara_Duterte

20. After DepEd exit, Sara's satisfaction rating plummets
    https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2024/08/11/2377016/after-deped-exit-saras-satisfaction-rating-plummets

21. Surveys favorable to VP Sara Duterte being pushed on Facebook without context
    https://mindanews.com/top-stories/2024/06/surveys-favorable-to-vp-sara-duterte-being-pushed-on-facebook-without-context/

22. VP Sara's trust problem: can she recover?
    https://opinion.inquirer.net/177370/vp-saras-trust-problem-can-she-recover

23. Sara Duterte's DepEd debacle
    https://opinion.inquirer.net/185519/saras-deped-debacle

24. Philippines' VP travels to The Hague as lawyers explore legal remedies for arrested ex-president
    https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/philippines-vp-travels-hague-lawyers-explore-legal-remedies-arrested-ex-2025-03-12/

25. Sara Duterte foreign trips cost P7.4M for security personnel deployment
    https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/959285/sara-duterte-foreign-trips-cost-p7-4m-for-security-personnel-deployment/story/

26. P7.4-M spent for Sara Duterte's security detail on foreign trips – OVP
    https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2107677/p7-4-m-spent-for-sara-dutertes-security-detail-on-foreign-trips-ovp

27. OVP: P20.68M spent for travel expenses from Jan-July 2025
    https://mb.com.ph/2025/09/11/ovp-p2068m-spent-for-travel-expenses-from-jan-july-2025

28. VP's travel spending hits P20.68M
    https://www.bworldonline.com/the-nation/2025/09/11/697968/vps-travel-spending-hits-p20-68m/

29. OVP reports spending P20.68 million on local, foreign trips as of July 2025
    https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/958803/ovp-spend-local-foreign-trips-2025-sara-duterte/story/

30. OVP spends P20.68M for int'l, local trips in first 7 months of 2025
    https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/9/11/p20-68m-spent-for-sara-duterte-s-trips-in-first-7-months-of-2025-ovp-1636

31. Most of Sara Duterte's 2025 foreign trips linked to father's ICC case
    https://www.tinigngplaridel.net/sara-2025-foreign-trips/

32. LIST: VP Sara Duterte's foreign trips in 2025
    https://www.newswatchplus.ph/2025/08/20/list-vp-sara-dutertes-foreign-trips-in-2025/

33. P7.4-M were spent for Sara Duterte's security detail on foreign trips (YouTube)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6ZeqtEF9HQ

34. VP Sara Duterte’s foreign trips cost ₱7.4M, covering security and staff | GMA Integrated News
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEGA5c4lYcs

35. VP Sara admits P7.4-M spent for security, personnel on overseas trips came from public funds | ANC
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yre8Bw9phhQ

36. VP Sara Duterte recites list of her overseas travels (YouTube)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzFAy9JU9_U

37. VP Sara Duterte recites list of her overseas travels (Dailymotion)
    https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9qm156

38. Watch Sara Duterte enumerate her foreign trips from July 2024 (YouTube)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-XuWCPWdsE

39. Watch Sara Duterte enumerate her foreign trips from July 2024 (TikTok mirror)
    https://www.tiktok.com/@rappler/video/7550521333344521490

40. Vice President Sara Duterte has traveled abroad 19 times from July last year… (Facebook post)
    https://www.facebook.com/tribunephl/posts/vice-president-sara-duterte-has-traveled-abroad-19-times-from-july-last-year-to-/1188009486258190/

41. Sara Duterte’s DepEd leadership is a ‘complete failure’ – Palace | INQToday (YouTube)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMC7hkH14Os

42. Philippines top court strikes down impeachment complaint against VP Sara Duterte (CNA video)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlS9ceyxGsY