Duterte confirms dancing on viral TikTok video amid criticisms of 'diverting' issues, being 'mentally unstable'
Vice President Sara Duterte confirmed that she, and not artificial intelligence, was the one dancing in a viral video on TikTok.
"Totoo 'yun, hindi AI iyong TikTok video. Ako iyon," Duterte told reporters in an ambush interview.
She noted that there have been three videos she did for a colleague, who has started exploring content creation.
"Sabi ng kasama ko, 'Content creator na ako... Pwede mo bang tulungan 'yung account ko,'" the vice president said.
"Di ko alam kung paano kumita... Sabi niya, 'I-promote mo 'yung account ko.' Then sinabihan ko siya, 'Anong kailangan kong gawin... Sure, maliit na bagay,'" she added.
Duterte also talked about her being spotted in Parañaque eating street food and visiting the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help or the Baclaran Church.
She explained that it's "normal" for her to be in a public setting in Davao.
"Di na ako pinapansin ng mga Dabawenyo kasi normal sa kanila 'yun," Duterte said.
She said she winded up in Baclaran because she was looking for a prop for trick-or-treating on Halloween.
'Diverting' issues
Duterte's public appearances came as critics accused her of "diverting" issues surrounding her, including the alleged misuse of funds of her office's socioeconomic programs and her refusal to answer questions regarding her office's expenses, particularly the confidential funds worth P775 million for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education, her former agency, from 2022 to 2023, during her budget proposal's first hearing.
She was seeking a P2.037-billion budget for 2025, which was cut to P733 million. Her office has a P1.885-billion budget for 2024.
Duterte told reporters that critics are also "diverting" issues.
"Well, it's a tie. Kasi ang ginagawa nila is a diversion from the nothingness that is this country is undergoing," she said. "Ginagawa nila is a diversion sa kagutuman, sa kahirapan, sa taas ng presyo at sa kawalan ng mga Pilipino. Ginagawa niyo akong diversion? E di gagawin ko rin kung anong ginagawa niyo... Bakit sila nagsasabi na hindi ako sumasagot?"
She said the OVP answers to issues "in the proper forum."
"Ayaw ko lang sumagot diyan sa ginagawa nilang circus. Hindi naman ako ang nagmumukhang tanga dyan. Sila, kasi hindi nila ginagawa trabaho nila," she claimed.
'Mentally unstable'
Duterte was also criticized for being "mentally unstable."
This began after she held a press conference last Oct. 18, during which she did not mince words to criticize President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
She said Marcos isn't capable of leading the Philippines, and that Filipinos are supposedly "on this road to hell."
She also reprimanded Marcos for feeling "dismayed" when she denied their friendship in an earlier statement.
Duterte also shared that she warned Sen. Imee Marcos, the presidential sister, that she would personally dig up former president and dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s body and throw it into the West Philippine Sea if the attacks against her didn't stop.
The VP also said she imagined cutting Marcos's head off for supposedly refusing to give his watch to a Philippine Military Academy cadet during a graduation ceremony. She then called their relationship "toxic."
Following Duterte's verbal attacks against the president, several lawmakers urged her to undergo psychological evaluation.
She told reporters that she's willing to do so, but only if congressional candidates at the 2025 midterm elections would undergo drug tests.