VICE PRESIDENT Sara Duterte finally took an oath to tell the truth during the hearing of the House of Representatives committee on good government and public accountability on Monday, November 25, 2024. Duterte attended the first hearing of the panel last September 18, but she did not take an oath, before skipping the next five meetings. Photo from House of Representatives of the Philippines live feed

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte’s ailment is evasion as she again skipped an important invitation — this time, a subpoena from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). This was what Zambales 1st District Rep. Jefferson Khonghun believed what happened.

It is saddening that Duterte still failed to show up even after the House of Representatives’ committee on good government and public accountability suspended its hearing set today, to give way for the NBI’s subpoena, said Khonghun in an online interview on Friday.

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According to Khonghun, this is not the first time that Duterte evaded issues hurled against her.

“‘Yon nga nakakalungkot dahil nag-cancel nga ng blue ribbon committee ‘yong kanyang hearing ngayong araw na ito para sana mabigyan ng oportunidad ang ating Bise Presidente para umattend ng subpoena ng NBI.  At nakakalungkot dahil hindi pumunta ang ating Bise Presidente,” Khonghun said.

(That is saddening because the blue ribbon committee has canceled its hearing today to give our Vice President the opportunity to attend the subpoena issued by the NBI.  But the Vice President did not attend.)

“So nakikita natin na talagang merong sakit sa pang-iwas ang ating Bise Presidente dahil lahat ng mga issue ay kanyang iniiwasan tulad ng nangyari sa pang-iwas niya sa issue ng confidential fund ng Office of the Vice President, Department of Education, ito ay kanyang iniwasan din,” he added.

(So we can see that our Vice President has a sickness — it is evading all the issues hurled against her, like what happened when discussing the issue of confidential funds under the Office of the Vice President, the Department of Education, she evaded these too.)

Criticized by lawmakers

Before her failure to show up at the NBI, Duterte was also criticized by lawmakers for her failure to answer questions regarding the confidential funds (CFs) lodged within the Office of the Vice President (OVP), during the deliberations of the office’s budget at the committee on appropriations.

Duterte and her OVP officials also refused to attend the next budget deliberations, and also refused to take an oath to tell the truth when the committee on good government started its probe on the CF utilization issues hounding OVP and the Department of Education.

Khonghun said he hopes the Vice President will just address the issued head-on — noting that ordinary citizens comply with these orders.

“Now she’s evading the subpoena from the NBI.  So I hope she just faces this head on because ordinary individuals who are issued subpoenas have no choice but to show up, especially if it’s the NBI whom they are facing,” he said.

“We can see here the question of whether only powerful and rich people are not required to face these invitations, especially on an important issue like threatening the lives of our President, the life of our Speaker, and the life of the First Lady?,” he asked.

The subpoena issued by NBI stems from the threats made by Duterte against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, and House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez.

Duterte stirred controversy

Duterte stirred controversy last November 22 after it was revealed that after visiting Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez, her chief-of-staff who was detained at the House premises, she locked herself inside the office of her brother, Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte.

Due to the security problems that came with Duterte staying inside the Batasang Pambansa, the House committee decided to transfer Lopez to the Correctional Institute for Women.

After this, Duterte held a press briefing early Saturday morning, where she badmouthed the First couple and Romualdez.  The Vice President also claimed that she has already tasked someone to assassinate the three in case she gets killed.

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According to NBI Director Jaime Santiago, Duterte’s lawyer asked for a rescheduling due to an ongoing hearing of the House committee on good government and public accountability.

The House hearing was scheduled on Friday, but the committee announced on Thursday that they have decided to postpone their meeting so that Duterte can attend the NBI invitation.

Santiago said Duterte’s lawyer claimed that they were informed late by the House panel.  The meeting was reset to December 11.

Different issues surround OVP and DepEd, which Duterte headed until July 2024.  Last Monday, it was revealed at the panel’s hearings that the special disbursing officers of OVP and DepEd left the disbursement of CFs to security officers — a move that 1-Rider party-list Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez believes can be tantamount to technical malversation.

Aside from this, the COA previously handed out a notice of disallowance on P73.2 million of the OVP’s P125-million CF for 2022.

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