Cheyenne Suarez

Palace Press Officer Claire Castro. Photo from PCO livestream/File

Article (news)

Palace's Castro: I never said VP went abroad without travel authority

Harlene Delgado

ABS-CBN News

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17547070260361753836917661cropped-1751872266556Gu_ZpiFWMAAemPR-2.webp" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Palace Press Officer Claire Castro. Photo from PCO livestream/File"/>Palace Press Officer Claire Castro. Photo from PCO livestream/File</div>ABOARD PR001 — Palace Press Officer Claire Castro on Friday said that she did not say that Vice President Sara Duterte had travelled to Kuwait without a travel authority.She reiterated that she only responded to queries about the whereabouts of the vice president and said the Office of the President did not know either.“Definitely, wala tayong binanggit na siya ay nag-travel sa Kuwait,”  Castro said in an interview aboard the presidential plane en route to Manila after the five-day state visit of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in India Friday, August 8.(I definitely did not mention that she travelled to Kuwait)<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/8/9/palace-senate-vote-on-vp-sara-impeachment-not-against-marcos-jr-admin-0945">Palace: Senate vote on VP Sara impeachment not ‘against’ Marcos Jr. admin </a></div>She said that she had only mentioned that there were reports that Duterte might travel to Kuwait on August 8 but that there was no application for a travel authority for that supposed trip.Vice President Duterte had accused the Office of the President of “political scapegoating” for allegedly claiming that she travelled to Kuwait without a travel authority.“There’s no truth at all na I went to Kuwait without a travel authority,” Duterte said in an interview in Davao City on August 7.Duterte said she had not watched the briefing where Castro supposedly made the comment, but said it could have been to distract from the Senate voting to archive the impeachment case against her.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/8/7/sara-duterte-appears-in-davao-belies-pco-claim-she-left-ph-without-travel-order-1932">‘Political scapegoating’: Sara Duterte appears in Davao, belies PCO claim she left PH without travel order </a></div>The Palace official urged the vice president to be responsible in her responses as well as those who ask questions to Duterte to stick to facts.Castro also said the Office of the President would always afford Duterte her option to go on trips abroad.

“Definitely, wala tayong binanggit na siya ay nag-travel sa Kuwait,” Castro said in an interview aboard the presidential plane en route to Manila after the five-day state visit of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in India Friday, August 8.

“Definitely, wala tayong binanggit na siya ay nag-travel sa Kuwait,” Castro said in an interview aboard the presidential plane en route to Manila after the five-day state visit of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in India Friday, August 8.