House leaders to Sara Duterte: Don’t divert, answer allegations of fund misuse

MANILA, Philippines – House leaders on Thursday, November 28, slammed Vice President Sara Duterte’s recent remarks about a supposed looming impeachment case against her, urging her to focus on addressing the allegations of fund misuse.

Assistant Majority Leader and Zambales 1st District Representative Jay Khonghun called it another “diversionary tactic” by the Vice President to shift public attention away from the budget issues surrounding the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education, which she led as secretary.

“Ang pakiusap ko lang, sana mag-concentrate tayo doon sa kung ano ba talaga ‘yung tunay na usapin. Ang tunay na usapin dito is may nawawalang pera na pera ng ating gobyerno, hindi naging tama ‘yung paggastos, nagkaroon ng kapabayaan sa pag handle ng confidential fund ng office, sa pag-iwas sa responsibilidad ng ating vice-presidente, Khonghun said.

(My only plea is that we focus on what the real issue is. The real issue here is that government funds are missing, the spending was not done properly, there was negligence in handling the confidential funds of the Office, and our Vice President has been avoiding responsibility.)

“Napakasimple lang naman ito. We want transparency, we want accountability, at kung sino may kasalanan, siya ang dapat managot,” he added. (This is really simple. We want transparency, we want accountability, and whoever is at fault should be held responsible.)

Khonghun was reacting to Duterte’s recent statement that the House will spend and squander government money to impeach her in order to cover up the shortcomings and lies of the Marcos administration. (READ: Sara Duterte: ‘If I get impeached, then that’s my end’)

The House committee on good government has been conducting hearings on Duterte’s alleged misuse of funds. Despite being pressed by critics, particularly in the House, about her use of confidential funds, the Vice President has consistently avoided answering the questions. Instead of addressing the issue, she often responds with personal attacks. (READ: In confidential funds fiasco, Sara Duterte resorts to personal attacks vs critics)

Manila 2nd District Representative Joel Chua, committee chairman, once again denied any talks of impeachment against Duterte. “Sa totoo lang, ang impeachment ay hindi pa po napag-uusapan dahil nakapokus pa kami dito sa mga iba pong usapin,” Chua told reporters in Thursday’s press briefing.

(To be honest, impeachment has not been discussed yet because we are still focused on other matters.)

Khonghun, however, stated that they cannot control the decision of other House members if they choose to file an impeachment case.

“Pero kami kasi sa administration hindi pa namin pinag-uusapan patungkol sa impeachment dahil abalang-abalang kami lalung-lalo na dito sa aming mga gawain sa Kongreso talagang gusto natin malaman kung ano ang katotohanan, gusto natin malaman yung mga nangyari patungkol siyempre s confidential fund ng Office of the Vice President at saka sa confidential fund ng Department of Education,” he said.

(But for us, in the administration, we haven’t discussed impeachment because we are all very busy, especially with our work here in Congress. What we really want is to get to the truth, to understand what happened, particularly regarding the confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education.)

House Speaker Martin Romualdez has also denied any talks of impeachment against the Vice President.

While the House panel was conducting its probe on Monday, November 25, several members of the Makabayan coalition held a protest outside the Batasang Pambansa calling for Duterte’s impeachment.

Chua also announced that the House panel decided to postpone the resumption of their probe, originally scheduled for Friday, November 29, to allow Duterte to focus on her appearance before the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), also set for that day.

He said that this would prevent the House committee from being used as an excuse for Duterte’s failure to appear before NBI chief Jaime Magtaas on Friday morning. In a press briefing on Wednesday, November 27, Duterte mentioned that she would request the NBI to reschedule her appearance so she could attend the probe with her staff.

Based on the NBI subpoena served to Duterte on Tuesday, November 26, she is required to “shed light on the investigation into alleged grave threats and possible violations” of the Anti-Terrorism Act. This pertains to her statements made against Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and Romualdez during her online verbal rampage on Saturday, November 23. – Rappler.com