VP Duterte ‘ready’ to face impeachment trial — OVP spox

Vice President Sara Duterte is ready to face the impeachment trial to defend herself from the allegations thrown against her, the spokesperson of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) said on Wednesday.

This was the response of OVP spokesperson Ruth Castelo to a recent SWS survey revealing that 66 percent of Filipinos agree that Vice President Duterte should address the impeachment charges to answer all the corruption allegations against her.

“The Vice President is ready, she's been saying that. And she's eager to be able to present her case or her evidence in the impeachment court so that once and for all, all doubts cast on her will go away. And that's what she wants,” Castelo told reporters in a press conference at the OVP headquarters in Mandaluyong City.

She, however, stressed that there are legal remedies that any lawyer can take.

"So in this case, the lawyers of the Vice President are taking legal remedies, legal strategies that are allowable in our system. So we'll wait,” she said.

According to the SWS survey conducted in June, 19 percent of the 1,200 adult respondents nationwide did not agree that Vice President Duterte should address the impeachment charges, while 15 percent were undecided.

Castelo also said the government could save millions worth of public funds should the Supreme Court decide in favor of the petitions seeking to dismiss the impeachment case against the Vice President.

She said the camp of the Vice President will proceed with the next steps in the looming impeachment trial depending on the decision of the Supreme Court.

“If the Supreme Court says there is no need because it should be dismissed for technical reasons or whatever reason that the court gives, if it's for the impeachment trial, that is fine, the Vice President is ready,” Castelo said.

“If it's not, if the Supreme Court says it cannot be heard at this time, then we'll be very lucky actually as a country because we'll save millions and millions of money on the trial that is technically defective from the beginning,” the OVP spokesperson added.

Meanwhile, the newly appointed spokesperson also shrugged off claims that a Vice President is merely a “spare tire” of the President.

She emphasized that the country needs a Vice President who is always ready to assume the responsibilities of the President in case anything happens to the latter and there is a need to assume the presidency.

"The mandate of the Vice President is the same as the mandate of the President. Lahat po ng nakalagay sa Constitution na trabaho ng Presidente, gano’n din ang trabaho ng Vice President. She is technically the assistant or when the President is absent, she takes over because she’s the Vice President,” Castelo said.