Lawmakers to Sara: Oath a commitment to honesty

MANILA, Philippines —  Administration lawmakers are reminding Vice President Sara Duterte that her refusal to take her oath when she appeared Wednesday before a committee of the House of Representatives would ultimately boomerang on her credibility and integrity as an elected public official.

Reps. Jay Khonghun of Zambales’ first district, Gerville Luistro of Batangas’ second district and Rodge Gutierrez of 1Rider party-list said the Vice President should have taken her oath, either as a witness or as a resource person, when the House panel was investigating her office.

“Refusing to testify under oath sends a signal that there is something to avoid. Taking the oath is not just a legal formality, it is a commitment to honesty. Any refusal to do so undermines trust in public statements,” Khonghun pointed out.

He said he found it puzzling that the Vice President, if she had nothing to hide, would refuse such a basic gesture of openness to accountability. “If there is nothing to conceal, why not take the oath? It is the basic act of accountability that all public officials must be willing to undertake,” he pointed out.

He maintained that taking an oath is not just a legal requirement but a fundamental act of transparency and accountability for public officials, and that she should have taken one on Wednesday before the House committee on good government and public accountability headed by Manila Rep. Joel Chua.

Luistro and Gutierrez, both lawyers, concurred with Khonghun.

“When the resource speaker does not take her oath, then it follows that whatever statement she will provide, we call it, it could not hold any water,” Luistro remarked.

“Public office is a public trust. When there is a question, we’re bound to answer. We’re bound to explain. No less than the Philippine Constitution provides, we are accountable to the Filipino people at all times,” she added.

“This is about accountability to the Filipino people,” Gutierrez asserted. “We are talking about hundreds of millions in public funds, and the VP must be transparent,” he said, referring to the Commission on Audit’s findings that the OVP may have misused P375 million of its confidential funds in the 2023 budget.

“It is still very telling that this pattern exists, and we need to determine if it is justified,” he said, noting similar issues in the OVP’s disbursement of its confidential and intelligence funds in 2022.

“I think the basis was laid out properly, and we have seen even as early during the initial deliberations, that it’s unfortunate that we did not have the proper resource persons from the Office of the Vice President,” Gutierrez said.. – Edith Regalado