A political civil war has exploded in the highest echelons of the Philippine government, pitting the nation’s Vice President against the administration’s own chief mouthpiece in an unprecedented public feud that threatens to tear the ruling alliance apart. What began as a simmering political tension has now escalated into an all-out, personal attack and counter-attack, with Vice President Sara Duterte launching devastating accusations about the President’s alleged lack of leadership, only to be met by a ferocious and highly strategic counter-punch from Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro, who did not hesitate to question the Vice President’s motives, competence, and even her personal security concerns. The political drama has confirmed the complete and utter rupture at the heart of the administration.

The Vice President initiated the attack with a series of cutting public statements that struck directly at the core of President Marcos Jr.’s governance. Her primary salvo was an accusation of presidential detachment and political drift, alleging that the President is not working, does not command, and does not ask questions, implying a profound lack of direction in the entire administration. This charge—of a failure to lead—is a direct constitutional challenge. Furthermore, the Vice President, reflecting on her past tenure as Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd), implied that she was the only effective “deliverer” of the administration’s goals, suggesting that after her departure, the President has been left without any significant accomplishments. This narrative positioned her as the political victim, claiming that she was unfairly targeted by the administration with a “destabilization plot” narrative to cover for its own insecurities, famously stating that the administration is “insecure, scared, and paranoid” of her criticisms.

The political earthquake that followed was delivered by Usec. Claire Castro, who appeared in a media interview and immediately dismissed the Vice President’s claims as baseless and contradictory. Castro, a witness to the internal workings of the Palace, directly refuted the most damaging claim against the President’s work ethic. She confirmed that she personally attends the President’s sectoral and private meetings and has witnessed him actively presiding, questioning Cabinet members, and providing commands. The implication was clear: the Vice President’s claims of a detached leader are only possible because the Vice President herself is not attending the crucial meetings where the national policy is being forged. Castro essentially turned the question of competence back onto the Vice President, challenging her to provide evidence of when and where the President allegedly failed to command a meeting.

But the most brutal element of the counter-attack was the strategic deployment of past failures during the Vice President’s tenure at DepEd, a move designed to destroy her narrative of being the only reliable political operator. Castro first referenced the Vice President’s own past public admission, where she confessed to having no background in education, stating that she felt guilty and relied heavily on her subordinates and stakeholders for initiatives like the controversial Matatag curriculum. This testimony was used to undermine the Vice President’s claim of having personally “delivered” the achievement.

The counter-punch then became a catastrophic political grenade: Castro then listed a litany of alleged “epic failures” and anomalies that occurred under the Vice President’s watch at DepEd. These included ongoing investigations into alleged “ghost students,” the scandal surrounding PHP 1.5 billion worth of gadgets and laptops that remained uncollected and rotting in warehouses for years, and the shocking reports of spoiled or rotten food being delivered to students. Castro’s argument was precise and devastating: the President did not issue any directive for these “failures” to happen. Therefore, the anomalies at DepEd—the very agency where the Vice President claimed her greatest accomplishment—were not a result of presidential detachment but were rather the direct consequences of administrative failure within her own department. This tactic transformed the Vice President’s attempt to highlight her political strength into a devastating reminder of her professional vulnerability.

The political feud took a final, personal, and highly explosive turn when the discussion shifted to the possibility of a political opponent replacing the current Justice Secretary. VP Sara Duterte had publicly and condescendingly questioned Usec. Claire Castro’s qualifications for the role, stating plainly that she does not know Castro and that Castro is “not a good speaker.” Castro’s response was sharp, immediate, and provocative, cutting directly to the heart of the Vice President’s political anxiety.

“She says she doesn’t know me, so why is she speaking against me?” Castro asked, before delivering the ultimate, politically charged challenge: “Is she worried that I might become SOJ (Secretary of Justice)? What is she afraid of?”

This question—delivered by a Palace official to the sitting Vice President—immediately transformed the bureaucratic query into an accusation of personal insecurity and fear of future legal accountability. By insinuating that the Vice President is actively “scared” of a Justice Department not aligned with her political interests, Castro successfully turned the personal attack back onto the Vice President, painting her as a paranoid political operator rather than a legitimate critic. Castro, while clarifying she has no intention of applying for the Justice Secretary position, weaponized the possibility to expose the raw nerve of the political infighting.

Finally, Castro directly confronted the Vice President’s most inflammatory claim: that the administration is paranoid for viewing her actions as a “destabilization plot.” Castro maintained that the Vice President is an active participant in efforts to undermine the government, citing the public calls for “BBM resign” and recalling a speech the Vice President gave abroad where she allegedly stated, “We all want the president to step down.” Castro pointed out the obvious consequence: if the President is forced to resign, the Vice President is the beneficiary. The logic, according to Castro, confirms that the Vice President’s actions are not simply dissent but are steps in a calculated political strategy designed to achieve the ultimate prize—the presidency itself.

The unprecedented open conflict has plunged the administration into a profound crisis of confidence. The two highest figures in the land, who ran and won on a platform of unity, are now engaged in a full-scale political war, leveraging past administrative failures, personal insults, and accusations of conspiracy to destroy each other’s political standing. This systemic breakdown confirms that the political alliance has entirely dissolved, and the focus of governance has dangerously shifted from managing national affairs to managing the escalating, existential threat of an internal political collapse. The nation now faces the terrifying prospect of a constitutional crisis, triggered not by external forces, but by the relentless, brutal infighting at the very heart of its power structure.