House leaders rally behind Speaker

MANILA, Philippines — Leaders of the House of Representatives rallied yesterday behind Speaker Martin Romualdez, dismissing Vice President Sara Duterte’s latest statement as a “desperate attempt” to shift public attention from her alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education when she was the DepEd secretary.

Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr., Deputy Speaker David Suarez and Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe asked Duterte to “stop the drama, hallucination and deception.”

The three House leaders said Romualdez and the chamber have consistently adhered to transparency and good governance.

“She seems to be hallucinating. That is why our advice to her is consult a doctor,” Gonzales said.

“The report of the Commission on Audit (COA) on how the House of Representatives used the people’s money is clean, unlike the OVP under VP Duterte,” he added.

The lawmaker stressed the House would not be investigating illegal activities like drug trafficking, money laundering and hoarding and price manipulation of consumer products if it is benefiting from illicit practices as claimed by the Vice President.

“Why would we investigate if one of us are benefiting from illegal activities? We would have kept our silence,” Gonzales asked.

Meanwhile, Suarez said Duterte’s accusations are mere “stories, drama and deception.”

“They are used to that. That is their expertise—deception,” he said. “That is only a diversion from her misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds that was received by the OVP and DepEd when she was still its secretary,” he added.

He also slammed the Vice President for consistently refusing to explain her use of CIFs despite repeated invitations by the House to do so and instead resorting to theatrics and unfounded accusations in evading accountability for the missing funds.

“There is only one reason for her refusal to appear before the committee. She has no explanation to the misuse of the P612.5 million confidential funds of the OVP and DepEd. She cannot explain the receipts without signatures, no names, unreadable names, the names of the bakeshop and one popular snack which received hundreds of thousands of rewards,” Suarez said, referring to a certain “Mary Grace Piattos” who allegedly received CIFs.

For his part, Dalipe said that Duterte’s allegation that Romualdez’s supposed plan to run for president motivated the House to look into the Vice President’s alleged misuse of the CIFs “has no basis at all.”

“The House wanted to protect public funds and acted on the COA report questioning hundreds of millions of pesos in confidential funds expenses by Madame Sara Duterte as Vice President and as DepEd secretary,” he said.

He reiterated that COA has disallowed P73 million of the P125 million in CIF spent by the OVP in December 2022 and has flagged more than P160 million of the P325 million disbursed in the first three quarters of 2023.

Tingog Rep. Jude Acidre echoed his colleagues’ sentiments on Saturday, stressing that Duterte needs to answer how she used the taxpayers’ money instead of displaying her “toxic behavior” that reflects poorly on her position as vice president.

House Majority Leader and La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V on Saturday urged the Vice President to get herself checked by a doctor as her fiery remarks on her press conference “warrants a psychological evaluation.”

House committee on good government and public accountability chairman Joel Chua and House quad comm lead chairman Robert Ace Barbers described Duterte’s remarks as “desperate lies” aimed at evading accountability over her alleged misuse of the CIF.

House Minority Leader and 4Ps party[1]list Rep. Marcelino Libanan advised Duterte yesterday to heed her father’s advice to get out of politics “before it’s too late.”

Bukidnon Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores said yesterday that Duterte’s death threat against Marcos should be investigated for criminal liability.

Assistant Majority Leader and Lanao del Sur 1st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said that the implied admission of Duterte that she has access to a hitman has sent shockwaves across the country.

Following Duterte’s revelation of ac[1]cess to a hitman, Manila 2nd district Rep. Rolando Valeriano said the parliamentary courtesy for Duterte is “over.”