OVP will not break, says Sara

MANILA, Philippines —  Entangled in controversies and under investigation for grave threats, corruption and possible violation of the anti-terrorism law, Vice President Sara Duterte said she and the Office of the Vice President (OVP) “will not break” and will remain “strong and resilient.”

“We assure the Filipino people that even in times of crisis and without resources, we shall stand tall, strong and resilient in our service to the Filipino people,” Duterte said in a video statement released to the media yesterday.

At the start of the video, Duterte thanked the lawyers, doctors and other professionals who were supposedly helping the OVP personnel “affected by the ongoing crisis in the offices.”

Duterte was apparently referring to the personnel of OVP facing investigation by the House committee on good government and public accountability in connection with questionable confidential fund expenses of the OVP as well as the Department of Education when she was still its secretary in 2022 and 2023.

Two of the OVP personnel, disbursing officer Gina Acosta and Duterte’s chief of staff Zuleika Lopez, are currently confined at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City as they supposedly fell ill while being grilled by the House panel.

“The legal documents are now with the lawyers, and the patients are under the expert care of health care personnel,” Duterte said.

She said the help provided by lawyers, doctors and other concerned individuals enables the OVP to focus on its activities.

“All these back office support shall allow me and other personnel to focus on the OVP thanksgiving, yearend activities, office utilization review and the calendar year 2025 planning,” Duterte said.

Aside from the investigation by the House panel, Duterte is also facing probe by the National Bureau of Investigation for grave threats under Article 282 of the Revised Penal Code as well as for possible violation of Republic Act 11479 or the Anti-Terrorism Law, in connection with her controversial remark about having contracted a person to kill President Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez in the event of her death at the hands of an assassin.

Duterte, a lawyer, is also facing a disbarment case before the Supreme Court, filed by an anonymous complainant, in connection with her previous remark of exhuming the remains of the late former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr. from the Libingan ng mga Bayani and throwing them in the West Philippine Sea.

Presidential Adviser on Poverty Alleviation Larry Gadon said he is not expecting the high court to act on the disbarment case he filed against the Vice President.

“The SC is political and biased,” Gadon said, citing several incidents showing Duterte’s being unfit to be a public official.

“She punched and inflicted injury to an officer of the SC who an order of the court, but the SC did not lift a finger to disbar nor suspend her,” he said. –  Mark Ernest Villeza