MANILA, Philippines — By all means, Vice President Sara Duterte said she would undergo a psychiatric test as some critics have suggested in the wake of her “Drag Me to Hell” press briefing – but only if reelectionist members of the House of Representatives would agree to do the same.
“I’ll have two tests: drug and neuropsychiatric. They are running as reelectionists so what we’ll do is… they keep saying I’m unstable, but I see them as unstable too. But all the reelectionist Young Guns, all congressional candidates have to do a drug test,” Duterte told reporters on the sidelines of the Philippine Business Conference and Expo.
After her speech, the Vice President told reporters she found all her detractors “unstable,” especially those in the House of Representatives, who she claimed kept on attacking her but easily got offended when she pushed back.
She said all voters need to demand their district congressional candidates provide negative drug test results because “they are unstable.”
The tests, she said, should be administered by an independent third party hair follicle testing center, that these tests should be taken “now” and televised for people to see the legitimacy of the process.
“We’re asking the help of the Philippine Medical Association to set the guide. We can’t do it three months from now because those people will just stop using drugs during that period. We should do it now. Let’s all have drug tests,” she said, stressing she was “not bluffing.”
Challenge accepted
The House’s Young Guns, meanwhile, have accepted Duterte’s challenge, but on one condition: she must agree to testify under oath before the House Blue Ribbon committee and explain allegations of fund misuse by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd).
“We are more than willing to take the drug test and psychiatric exam, as the Vice President suggested, but we will not allow her to divert the real issue, which is the allegations of fund misuse and graft and corruption against her,” said House Assistant Majority Leader and Zambales Rep. Jay Khonghun.
“If she wants to challenge us, she should be ready to face the House Blue Ribbon committee and testify under oath… This isn’t just about clearing our names from baseless accusations – it’s about accountability, which every public official must uphold,” he said. “Transparency should go both ways.”
Rep. Margarita Nograles, daughter of the late speaker Prospero Nograles Jr., also accepted Duterte’s challenge.
“Sure, no problem with me. I will schedule the tests within the next few days,” Nograles of the Pwersa ng Bayaning Atleta party-list told reporters on Viber.
Nograles, one of the Young Guns, is running against former president Duterte’s congressman-son, Rep. Paolo, in the May 2025 elections for congressman in the first district of Davao City.
“Let’s level the playing field,” Assistant Majority Leader and La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega said. “We’re all public servants here, so let’s agree that anyone failing the drug or psychiatric test should face the consequences, and anyone found misusing public funds should also be held accountable,” he added.
The Vice President “should demonstrate her accountability by appearing before Congress to answer the allegations of fund misuse in her office. Only then will this challenge truly serve the public interest,” he said.
“We propose that neutral third-party groups of medical experts administer both the drug and psychiatric exams to ensure the process is objective and transparent,” said Ortega.
Assistant Majority Leader and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong added, “We’re ready for these tests. Let’s schedule it within the next few days. But more than that, we challenge the Vice President to step forward and answer the people’s questions about her office’s budget use. The real test of leadership is accountability, and we hope she’s ready for that.”
Minority Leader and Ako Bicol Partylist Rep. Jil Bongalon, a lawyer, said “any individual found to have failed the drug test should face legal consequences under the Dangerous Drugs Act.”
Bongalon emphasized that “the Vice President’s appearance before the Blue Ribbon committee was essential for transparency and good governance, a cornerstone of their call to action.”
Davao Oriental Rep. Cheeno Almario also vowed to undergo the tests.
Disturbing, childish
Lawmakers and critics of the Vice President earlier said her “disturbing and childish” demeanor during her two-hour press conference last week was a sign she should undergo psychiatric test.
During the press conference, Duterte bared her threat to have the remains of Marcos Sr. exhumed and thrown into the West Philippine Sea if the Marcoses would continue to destroy her.
It’s a threat she allegedly had earlier told Sen. Imee Marcos.
The Vice President also bared her urge to chop off the head of President Marcos.
Marcos and Imee were mum on the Vice President’s diatribe, but not the younger members of the Marcos family – Rep. Sandro Marcos and Ilocos Norte Gov. Matthew Marcos Manotoc – who pushed back against Duterte’s tirades.
On Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla’s pronouncement that he was eyeing legal action against Duterte for threatening to desecrate the remains of the late Marcos, the Vice President said: “Let’s pray for the Philippines because we have a secretary of justice who doesn’t know the law. There’s a difference between talking about desecration of a body and actually desecrating a body. Talking about the desecration of a body is not the desecration of the dead.”
Unstable mind
In response, Remulla questioned Duterte’s fitness to lead. “How can we entrust our youth to such a person who can utter such words and reflect such thoughts that are against human decency?”
Remulla said, saying Duterte’s statements are “shockingly disturbing” for someone who had served as education secretary.
He said Duterte is someone with a “seemingly unstable mind.”
“This country does not deserve a future with the kind of person like this,” he said.
Duterte, meanwhile, also said she is open to reconciling with Marcos and his allies, but only if they apologize to members of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ and to those invited to House hearings.
“Apologize to the families of the people who died in Davao City during the scuffle over the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. Apologize to all they teargassed, pummeled and beat up in Tamayong and KOJC. Apologize to all the people who have been unable to sleep until now because they keep on summoning them at the House of Representatives,” she said.
“Not just an apology. A sincere one. Name them and apologize to them and I’ll think about forgiving you. That’s just me thinking about it,” she added.
Duterte earlier apologized to members of KOJC for asking them to support Marcos when he ran for president in 2022, with her as running mate.
Quiboloy endorsed the UniTeam ticket of Marcos and Duterte in the 2022 elections.
She also claimed the Marcos administration and its allies in Congress were attacking her as a “diversionary tactic” to shift the public’s attention from pressing problems like hunger, poverty and rising prices of commodities, among others. — Delon Porcalla, Sheila Crisostomo, Daphne Galvez, Brix Lelis