Sara dubs House panel inquiry a well-funded political attack

Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday attempted — unsuccessfully — to terminate a House inquiry into the budget of her office, which she said was orchestrated merely to attack and discredit her.

Duterte accused the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability of using its ongoing probe into the alleged misuse of her office’s funds, as well as of the Department of Education’s (DepEd) when she headed it, of being a “well-funded and coordinated political attack.”

“It is clear to me that this inquiry is not about misused funds, accountability, or governance. Instead, it is solely aimed at discrediting my name and my office to prevent future political contests,” Duterte said.

The investigation was prompted by a privilege speech of Manila Rep. Rolando Valeriano on 3 September in which he raised concerns about the Office of the Vice President’s spending for its socioeconomic programs without supporting documentation, including post-activity reports.

The panel is also looking into potential “malfeasance, misfeasance and nonfeasance” in the DepEd’s failure to deliver crucial projects, including the late distribution of laptops and other e-learning equipment.

Duterte, however, said scrutinizing the budget of her office was not the objective of the committee but rather its motive was solely to “make a case for impeachment.”

She said Valeriano’s privilege speech was nothing but a political statement: “Do not vote for Sara in 2028.”

Duterte said she will not run in the upcoming mid-term elections but will announce her plans for 2028 in the “fourth quarter of 2026.”

“I have said before, and I have repeated several times, that I am not the problem of this country. The real problems are hunger, poverty, illegal drugs, criminality, terrorism, insufficient healthcare, the quality of education, lack of infrastructure plans for disasters, and many others.”

“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,” she stressed.

Recently, Duterte and several House members exchanged sharp words due to her repeated refusal to answer questions and for her generic responses regarding the P125 million in confidential funds that was spent in 11 days in December 2022, of which P73.287 million was disallowed by the Commission on Audit.

She also skipped the second round of the budget deliberation last Tuesday.

Duterte later moved to terminate the inquiry, citing a “clear lack of any proposed legislation or substantive matter for discussion” that the committee would produce.

“I will not allow myself to be subjected to an inquiry based on an empty privilege speech just so you can attack me and do indirectly what you failed to do directly during the budget hearings,” she said.

Manila Rep. Joel Chua, the panel chairman and one of Duterte’s staunchest critics, denied the Vice President’s appeal, saying the committee “already took cognizance of this privilege speech.”

Duterte refused to testify under oath, which lawmakers stressed not only undermined public trust but, more importantly, sent a signal that “there is something to avoid.”

Duterte, however, reiterated that her office did not do “anything wrong” in using her annual budget and that the probe serves as a “practice” of lawmakers to oust her.