Former President Rodrigo Duterte (L) and Vice President Sara Duterte | PHOTOS: Official Fb pages of Rody Duterte and Inday Sara Duterte
MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers have refuted Vice President Sara Duterte’s allegation that they’re utilizing the problem about her workplace’s secret funds to discredit her, saying that attacking a sitting vp was the sport plan of the earlier administration.
In a press briefing on Wednesday, 1-Rider party-list Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez and La Union 1st District Rep. Paolo Ortega V have been requested about Duterte’s claims that lawmakers are attacking her as a result of vice presidents are all the time perceived to be aiming for the presidency.
Gutierrez disputed her allegation.
“Possibly that’s the playbook of the earlier administration, however so far as we’re involved, I don’t care who the president will probably be in 2028. What we care about is the funds now, that’s what I can say about any supposed ploy that there is perhaps,” Gutierrez mentioned.
Ortega, in the meantime, mentioned Duterte might have provide you with this conclusion out of familiarity.
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“Siguro acquainted sila dun, ‘no? Noong nakaraang administrasyon. Hindi naman po assaults kasi ‘yong ginagawa namin, we’re specializing in the problems,” he mentioned.
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(Possibly they’re aware of that as a result of that’s what occurred previously administration. We’re not attacking, we’re specializing in the problems.)
“Karamihan naman kasi nung mga nire-raise niya na parang problema, ‘yong parang ina-atake siya, karamihan naman nung mga sinabi niya, parang siya nag-a-attack sa sarili niya, parang self-inflicted kasi,” he added.
(A lot of the issues she raised, her feeling that she is being attacked, most of those assaults got here from her, it appears to be self-inflicted.)
In March 2021, then Vice President Leni Robredo’s spokesperson Barry Gutierrez lamented that the administration of then President Rodrigo Duterte appeared to be extra serious about attacking Robredo fairly than fixing points associated to the Covid-19 pandemic.
READ: Leni camp: Admin spends extra time bashing Robredo than fixing issues
In January 2021, Gutierrez requested former Abroad Staff Welfare Affiliation Deputy Govt Director Mocha Uson to spare Robredo’s workplace from her “silliness” as she blamed Robredo and her supporters for rumors circulating about her alleged romance with actor Robin Padilla, which Uson debunked.
READ: OVP spokesman tells Mocha Uson: Don’t drag us into your nonsense
In a video launched by the Workplace of the Vice President (OVP) on Wednesday, Duterte claimed that the criticisms she was receiving have been borne out of a want to place down a vp presumed to be after the presidency.
“Unang-una, mensahe ko sa ating mga kababayan, huwag silang magpadala sa ingay ng politika. Kung makikita natin sa kasaysayan, lagi talagang inaatake ang vp dahil siya ‘yung tinitingnan ng mga tao na baka magiging sunod na presidente,” she mentioned.
(My message to my fellow Filipinos, they shouldn’t be swayed by political noise. If we are able to see in historical past, they all the time assault the vice presidents as a result of individuals see them as presumably the following presidents.)
“So, lahat ng mga gustong tumakbong presidente ay uunahin nila atakihin talaga ang vp. Kaya ‘wag sila magpadala sa ingay ng paninira at pulitika,” she added.
(So, of all these aspiring to be presidents, they assault the vp first. That’s why the individuals shouldn’t be swayed by efforts to discredit and politics.)
Ortega maintained that the Home of Representatives has all the time caught with the problems at hand, noting that discussions revolve on budgetary considerations.
“Within the Home of Representatives, we now have been, from the beginning, even throughout press conferences, if there are points, we persist with the problems. If there’s a critique, after we critique, after we glance into the deeper content material, we provide options. We talk about these primarily based on points, that’s clear,” he mentioned.
Duterte is at present beneath fireplace after funds hearings on the Home revealed points on the OVP’s confidential funds in 2022 and 2023, and anomalies within the supply of tasks of the Division of Schooling, when she was the Schooling secretary.
Majority Chief Manuel Jose Dalipe mentioned on Tuesday that Duterte could also be answerable for graft if she can not clarify how the funds have been spent, notably gadgets with adversarial findings from the Fee on Audit (COA).
The COA issued a discover of disallowance on P73.2 million of the OVP’s P125-million CF for 2022 — an merchandise that a number of lawmakers mentioned shouldn’t be obtainable within the first place as the unique funds crafted beneath Robredo didn’t have such.
READ: VP Sara Duterte could also be answerable for graft – Dalipe
Lawmakers additionally blasted Duterte for skipping the funds deliberations of the OVP on Tuesday — the second spherical of discussions as talks have been deferred final August 27.
Deliberations have been deferred as Duterte avoided straight answering lawmakers’ questions, replying by saying that she both forgoes the chance to defend the OVP funds in a question-and-answer format, or by insisting that they’ve already coordinated with the COA relating to the discover of disallowance.
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READ: OVP’s 2025 funds talks deferred anew; panel terminates hearings
