Sara moves to terminate fund misuse probe

MANILA, Philippines —  Vice President Sara Duterte appeared at yesterday’s hearing of the House committee on good government and public accountability, but refused to take her oath and requested the committee to terminate the hearing on the past expenditures of her office.

From the start of the hearing, Duterte appeared defiant, saying her invitation did not indicate that she is a “witness,” citing the House of Representatives’ rules.

“It says in the rules that only witnesses take their oath. Now you are saying we are resource persons,” she noted.

Duterte’s refusal was a break in the rules and tradition of resource persons attending House hearings. Even former presidents Fidel Ramos and Benigno Aquino III took their oath when invited as resource persons during a congressional inquiry.

In response to this, panel chair and Manila Rep. Joel Chua said that everyone invited is considered a resource persons and witness.

This was questioned by former president and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, a known ally of the Vice President, who invoked a Supreme Court ruling that “there is a difference between a mere witness and the accused.”

“It can appear from statements and privileged speeches that … she (Duterte) is, in fact, accused of what seems to be a criminal case for violation of certain criminal laws, including malversation of public funds,” she added.

Arroyo maintained the ruling stipulates that the right of the accused against self incrimination also applies to “respondents in administrative investigations such as legislative inquiries.”

Bukidnon Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores then informed Arroyo that no person invited to the hearing could be classified as an accused yet.

Chua nevertheless allowed Duterte not to take her oath if she did not want to.

After this, the committee allowed Duterte to make her official statement, where she categorically denied allegations of corruption in the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

The Vice President claimed that the hearing was part of an orchestrated attack against her and that the real objective was to impeach her.

According to Duterte, it was clear to her that the inquiry is not about misused funds, accountability or governance. “In truth, it is not the budget that you aim for because it’s easy to remove the budget. What you are trying to do is make a case for impeachment,” she added.

“So you may try to destroy me. You can skin me alive, burn me and throw my ashes to the wind. But let it be known: you will find me unbowed. I will continue to serve the Filipino people, no matter the personal cost or political intrigue,” she added.

Terminate hearing

The Vice President also requested the committee to “terminate” the hearing but this was rejected by Chua, owing to the fact that she was not a member of the panel.

A little later, she asked the presiding officer that she be excused from the OVP expenditure inquiry, which was readily granted.

Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro noted that Duterte’s refusal to take her oath simply means anything that the committee may unearth will not hold water, on the basis that she never confirmed the legitimacy of allegations that may be attributed to her.

Despite her refusal to participate in the legislative inquiry, the Vice President will still be invited to take part in future House hearings, panel chairman Chua said.

“We will continue to invite her, but at the end of the day, it’s up to her if she will attend,” Chua said on One News’ “Storycon” on Wednesday.

“We will continue to respect her office, but this privilege will not be precedent for everyone,” he added.

Misuse

The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the misuse of P375 million in confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) by the OVP for 2023, echoing similar issues identified in the 2022 CIF disbursements under Vice President Duterte.

This has drawn criticism from lawmakers, particularly 1-Rider partylist Rep. Rodge Gutierrez, who described it as a “repeated pattern of fund mismanagement.”

Gutierrez noted that this pattern has resulted in another Audit Observation Memorandum from COA, which could escalate into a Notice of Disallowance, similar to what had happened with the OVP’s 2022 CIF disbursements.

‘Never again to Marcos ’

After a falling out with President Marcos, Duterte openly declared she is now at the point of her political career where she can – just like the pre-EDSA 1986 people power revolution – say “Never again to the Marcoses.”

“Never again,” she told House reporters in a chance interview inside the Batasang Pambansa.

Duterte refused to answer queries about her relationship with the Chief Executive, whom she said she is not really friends with from the very beginning, but only because of the May 2022 presidential campaign.

“Actually, my only real friend is Senator Imee Marcos,” Duterte, daughter of former president Duterte, added.

She said they go a long way back, adding that questions about her personal or official relations with Marcos’ younger brother requires a “sit-down interview.”

“I think because it’s quite long. We may need to have a sit-down for that,” she said. Duterte was the running mate of Marcos in the May 2022 presidential elections under the UniTeam party.

At the same time, she confirmed previous pronouncements made by her father dissuading her from seeking higher office, as he doesn’t want her to suffer the way he did over political conflict.– Sheila Crisostomo Janvic Mateo