VP Sara not siding with China with 'troublemaker' remark -- spox

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Vice President Sara Duterte’s spokesperson clarified that her “troublemaker” comments did not signify that she sided with China.

In a "24 Oras" report from Marisol Abdurahman on Wednesday, the vice president’s spokesperson Paolo Panelo said that her comment was in relation to the Laos-Philippine drug bust.

“Ang konteksto noon is ‘yung nasabat na illegal drugs sa Laos, ‘yung papunta dapat ng Pilipinas…tapos ginamit ito ni Secretary Gibo Teodoro itong troublemaker na statement ni VP Sara, ginamit niya naman sa anti-China rhetoric niya,” Panelo said.

(The context of that was the illegal drugs in Laos, the one headed to the Philippines… then the troublemaker statement of VP Sara was used by Secretary Gibo Teodoro for his anti-China rhetoric.)

Teodoro had slammed Duterte’s troublemaker comments, saying that China was the true troublemaker.

Panelo called Teodoro’s response politicking.

“Kapag ang mga politiko ay pinopolitika itong China issue, ang tatamaan niyan hindi naman sila kundi ‘yung mga ordinaryong Pilipino at ‘yung mga negosyong umaasa sa ugnayan sa China,” Panelo said.

(If politicians politicize this China issue, it is ordinary Filipinos who are affected, the Filipinos whose businesses rely on China.)

Duterte and her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, have been accused of receiving money from China through their organizations.

Panelo said the allegations are without basis.

"May donation ng Chinese government sa Tapangin at Malasakit [Foundation], and the Vice President is one of the trustees. Awtomatikong agad na sinusuportahan ng Chinese government si Vice President?" he said.

"What if it was used to build classrooms? Or what if it was used for charitable purposes at may resibo?" he added. —Jean Mangaluz/LDF, GMA News