A follower’s question about how she keeps looking fresh under political pressure prompted Vice President Sara Duterte to turn the moment into a pointed dig at an unnamed 68-year-old on Monday.
“Because we know someone who is only 68 but has the face of a corpse,” Duterte said during a chance interview in The Hague, Netherlands.
She offered no name. The comparison, however, lands close to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is 68.
Before the remark, Duterte had brushed off suggestions that time and controversy had worn on her looks. “There hasn’t really been much difference in me from 2022 until now. Maybe I’ve just added more skin care because I’m getting older, right? It’s tough when you’re only 38 but you look 68,” she said.
The comment surfaced during a stop on an overseas swing that stretches across two weeks and takes the vice president through several countries.
Duterte had also brushed aside the President’s coming state of the nation address, his second to last, telling reporters she would skip it and calling it a “waste of time for Filipinos.”
The trip unfolds while she faces an impeachment trial tied to accusations covering misuse of confidential funds, wealth she has not accounted for, and a grave threat.
