08/10/2025
Leila de Lima’s “Brattiness” Charge Against VP Sara Duterte: A Distortion of Duty and a Disrespect to the People
OPTIC Politics | EDITORIAL | October 3, 2025
Rep. Leila de Lima’s outburst in the House of Representatives — branding Vice President Sara Duterte’s absence during the plenary budget hearing as “brattiness” — reveals not the character of the Vice President, but the shallow politics of her accuser. Her statements were not grounded in facts, not tempered by diligence, and not reflective of the respect that the Office of the Vice President deserves under the Constitution.
The truth is plain. On 25 September 2025, a formal letter was issued by the Vice President’s office, officially communicated and acknowledged on 29 September, stating she would not personally attend the plenary and instead would send duly authorized officials. Despite this clear record, De Lima proceeded to paint Duterte’s absence as arrogance. In doing so, she deliberately disregarded evidence, misled the public, and disrespected not just the Vice President, but the millions of Filipinos who elected her.
The Context De Lima Chose to Ignore
On 30 September, while OVP officials sat in the House plenary waiting since 10 a.m., the Appropriations Committee repeatedly deferred, demanding the Vice President’s personal presence. At 9:59 p.m., a 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck the Visayas, devastating Cebu and surrounding provinces. Within hours, Vice President Duterte mobilized her satellite offices for relief operations and was on the ground in Cebu by 1 October, bringing aid and comfort to earthquake victims.
Was this “brattiness”? Or was this leadership? The Vice President chose to stand with disaster-stricken Filipinos while Congress chose to delay. To frame that choice as arrogance is not only dishonest — it is a betrayal of the Filipino people’s right to responsive governance in times of crisis.
Constitutional Distortion and Political Theater
De Lima’s claim that Duterte’s absence constitutes “disrespect for the Constitution” is legally unsound. The Constitution does not dictate that the Vice President must personally appear at budget hearings; it requires accountability and transparency of public funds, which the OVP has already complied with. The Vice President honored parliamentary courtesy, appeared before the Committee when required, answered questions, and secured endorsement for the plenary.
De Lima knows this. Yet she twisted procedure into political theater, weaponizing the budget process to advance her camp’s tired narrative against the Dutertes. This is not constitutional fidelity — it is political opportunism.
The Politics Behind the Attack
De Lima’s words cannot be isolated from her affiliations. As a stalwart of the Liberal Party, closely aligned with the Kakampinks and Dilawans, she represents a faction long rejected by the people for its failure to connect with the nation’s real struggles. Their attacks on the Dutertes have been consistent not because of constitutional principle, but because of political ambition.
To call the Vice President “bratty” while she was on the ground helping earthquake victims is to reveal the true lack of compassion of De Lima’s camp. It shows a heart hardened by partisanship, blind to suffering, and obsessed only with clawing back power.
The Real Insult
The insult here is not to Congress, nor to the Constitution, but to the Filipino people. It is an insult to disaster victims, dismissed as secondary to De Lima’s grandstanding. It is an insult to voters, whose mandate for Vice President Duterte was trivialized as mere “brattiness.” It is an insult to public service, reduced to a stage for political attacks.
Vice President Sara Duterte chose to act where it mattered most — with the people, in the rubble, in Cebu. Leila de Lima chose to act where it mattered least — with rhetoric, inside the safe walls of Congress.
Enough of the Hypocrisy
If De Lima truly respected the Constitution, she would have acknowledged the OVP’s compliance. If she truly respected the people, she would have praised the Vice President’s immediate disaster response. Instead, she chose to distort facts, disrespect institutions, and diminish a constitutional office.
Enough of the hypocrisy. Enough of the opportunism. The Filipino people can see who is working, and who is merely performing.
