Vice President Sara Duterte has urged Filipinos to break what she called “bad habits” in choosing leaders, calling for greater discernment ahead of the upcoming elections.
Speaking in Tondo and Quiapo, Manila on April 24 and 25, Duterte emphasized that she was not campaigning for any position, but simply reminding the public to reflect on their voting choices.
“I am not a candidate in this year’s elections. What I am doing is reminding our countrymen to change our wrong behavior in choosing our leaders,” Duterte said.
She pointed to three recurring problems: favoring candidates from prominent political families, engaging in vote-buying, and supporting politicians based on entertainment rather than qualifications.
“First, [choosing] those coming from big political families. Second, exchanging our principles for money and for vote buying. And third, not being critical — we simply remember those who made us laugh or entertained us during the campaign,” she said in Filipino.
Duterte warned that superficial voting often leads to unfulfilled promises, citing President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s 2022 campaign pledge to bring rice prices down to P20 per kilo.
“Now that elections are near again, the P20 per kilo rice promise is once more being talked about and promoted by the administration,” she added.
Duterte stressed that genuine change would only happen if voters take their electoral decisions seriously.
“We need to change the way we vote so that we can see new leaders and real change in our country,” she said.
Earlier this week, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. announced that the sale of P20 per kilo rice would begin in pilot areas across the Visayas. The promise had been a key campaign message for Marcos during the 2022 elections.
However, Duterte dismissed the move as another election tactic to support administration-backed Senate candidates.
In response, Malacañang defended the administration, with Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro saying true leaders should back the country’s highest official instead of issuing public criticisms.
