Walang nakitang mali ang Commission on Audit (COA) sa paglikha ng Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group, ayon sa Office of the Vice President (OVP).

Sa isang pahayag, sinabi ng OVP na ang pagtatayo ng VPSPG ay isang inisyatiba ni Vice President Sara Duterte noong nakaraang taon na naglalayong magkaroon ng grupo na independent sa Presidential Security Group (PSG).

“The VPSPG will wholly provide all future Philippine Vice Presidents with necessary security and protection, a fundamental task that it will inevitably perform even when the Vice President and the President face the misfortune of having a relationship strained or broken by political differences — a troubling situation we have seen during the past administration,” sabi sa pahayag.

Bukod sa pagiging ikalawang pinakamataas na halal ng bayan, si Vice President Duterte rin ang Secretary ng Department of Education, Co-Vice Chairperson ng NTF-ELCAC, at Pangulo ng Southeast Asia Ministers of Education Organization.

“The deployment of VPSPG personnel largely depends on the assessment of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police. The OVP remains grateful to the AFP and PNP for supporting the VPSPG and OVP,” sabi pa ng pahayag.

“Comparisons between Vice President Sara Duterte and the security personnel of former Vice Presidents are absurd and completely lacking basis,” dagdag pa nito.