Marcos’ doors always open for Sara Duterte’s suggestions — Palace

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (left) and Vice President Sara Duterte. | PHOTO: PPA POOL PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — All suggestions of Vice President Sara Duterte, as long as they will help the betterment of the country, are welcome to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

“On the part of the Palace, we welcome any impactful and good suggestion from the Office of the Vice President,” Palace press officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said in Filipino during a briefing on Thursday.

“The President will not just reject these suggestions. The President’s door is always open for the Vice President,” she added.

The assurance came after OVP spokesperson Ruth Castelo said that Malacañang keeping Duterte out of the loop or not funding her office’s programs and projects would be a “great disservice to the country.”

READ: OVP says vice presidents are not just mere ‘spare tire’

But Castro reminded Duterte that she was the one who was not helping the President and the Marcos administration.

She cited how the Vice President claimed she had the formula to lower the prices of rice, which is a campaign promise of the President, but had not shared it with the administration.

“It is not President Marcos nor his administration that blocks the programs of Vice President Duterte,” Castro said.

“In the first place, the President is always welcome to hear any impactful suggestion from her,” she added.

Castro also denied the OVP’s allegations that the Marcos administration was blocking the increase in its budget.

She said the Department of Budget and Management even increased the proposed budget of the OVP for 2026 from P733 million to P903 million.

READ: DBM hikes 2026 proposed budget for Sara Duterte’s office to P903 million

For the current lack of budget of the OVP, Castro blamed Duterte’s office for not being able to defend her 2025 allocation before the Congress.

The OVP proposed a P2.037-billion budget for this year, but it was slashed to P733.198 million in the 2025 General Appropriations Act.

“Whatever the decision of the Congress is not in the purview of the President,” Castro said.

“If Vice President Duterte really wants a bigger budget, she should be like a student who is preparing for a thesis. She should defend her thesis well before her panel if she really wants her request for a higher budget to be approved,” she added. /das