Palace slams VP Sara, says PBBM probe not a ‘tokhang’ operation

Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro criticized Vice President Sara Duterte over her remarks of “unserious” investigation of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on the issue of corruption in the budget, particularly the flood control projects. 

In an interview at The Hague, Duterte said if Marcos was serious in investigating corruption, it would be done in one day and all the perpetrators would have been identified.

Castro responded that this move is “absolutely preposterous” as Marcos respects due process.

“President Marcos Jr. does not conduct an investigation the tokhang way. The President respects the due process. The President respects human rights so everything goes through the process,” she said.

Castro added that the Vice President should have suggested this idea during the administration of his father former president Rodrigo Duterte as he himself said there were “ghost projects” at the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

The Palace Press Officer held up a copy of a news article dated 2020.

“If [it] only [takes] one day to be investigated, she would have suggested it to her father since the former President Duterte himself admitted that there were many ghost projects, rampant then. This was November 2020,” Castro said while pointing to a news article. “But was there a DPWH secretary dismissed during his term?”

Castro also reiterated that the investigation is for the good of the public and not politicking.

“This investigation [is] for the people, not for politics. The President does this even if his administration will be hit,” she said.

On Sunday, Manuel Bonoan resigned as Secretary of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), taking responsibility over the corruption that occurred under his tenure.

He was replaced by Secretary Vince Dizon who vowed to reorganize the DPWH within 60 days. His first act as department chief was to ask officials to submit a courtesy resignation from the agency.