The Masa Sara Duterte Alliance (MASADA) on Saturday backed Vice President Sara Duterte’s plan to pursue a conflict-of-interest complaint against House Committee on Justice chair Rep. Gerville Luistro over an alleged unpaid P8 million debt to her husband.

MASADA said the alleged obligation raises serious questions about Luistro’s ability to remain impartial as head of the panel deliberating the impeachment complaint against the Vice President.

In her program “Ibalik Tapang at Malasakit” over the weekend, Duterte said she is considering filing a conflict-of-interest complaint against a member of the justice panel.

“One member of the Committee on Justice owes my husband P8 million,” she said, echoing an earlier pronouncement months back.

Duterte said the amount has not yet been included in her husband’s statement of assets, liabilities and net worth.

“You cannot include it yet because it is not income. It is still a debt owed to us,” she said.

The Vice President said she was reminded of the alleged unpaid debt while watching Luistro on television.

“Look at the nerve of that person — owing P8 million yet still attacking,” Duterte said, describing her as thick-faced or, in the vernacular, “makapal ang mukha.”

Legal fees

In an earlier statement, Duterte said Luistro had hired the legal services of her husband as defense counsel in a criminal case but allegedly failed to settle the legal fees.

MASADA founding chairman Benito Ranque said the unpaid amount raises questions about Luistro’s role in the impeachment proceedings.

He added that the P8 million could have been declared as income in the Vice President’s statement of assets, liabilities and net worth if the obligation had been paid.

In response, when Duterte first brought up the issue, Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro fired back with a challenge to show proof that she owed the law firm of the vice president’s husband, Manasas Carpio.