MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday dismissed accusations against her, tagging them as mere “attacks” due to her high position in government.
Duterte made the pronouncement after a former Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KJC) member linked Sara and her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, to sect leader and alleged sex offender Apollo Quiboloy.
READ: Dutertes left with bag of guns after visit to Quiboloy – witness
“Rene,” during a public hearing of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations, and Gender Equality, claimed that he saw the Dutertes visit Quiboloy’s property carrying a bag of firearms as they left.
“Sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas, naging kagawian na ang pag-atake at pagbato ng sari-saring isyu laban sa Bise Presidente. Marahil, sapagkat ang Bise Presidente ang tumatayong pangunahing hadlang sa mga nangangarap maging Pangulo,” said Duterte in a statement.
(In the history of the Philippines, it has become a common practice to launch attacks and hurl various issues against the Vice President. Perhaps because the Vice President stands as the primary obstacle to those who aspire to become President.)
“Hindi ko ikakagulat kung dumami pa ang mga kaso, imbestigasyon, testigo, paratang, atake, at paninira laban sa akin sa mga susunod na araw, lingo, buwan, at mga taon,” she added.
(It would not surprise me if the number of cases, investigations, witnesses, accusations, attacks, and defamation against me increased in the coming days, weeks, months, and years.)
According to Duterte, there is a “right time for everything,” and she emphasized that she will instead focus on working by prioritizing “real issues” hounding Filipinos.
Prior to Rene’s accusations, a self-professed former gunman of the Davao Death Squad, an alleged vigilante group believed to be behind the spate of killings of suspected drug traffickers and other criminals in Davao City, also accused the Vice President of being the brain behind the brutal “Oplan Tokhang” in Davao City
The “Oplan Tokhang” is a strategy that directed law enforcers to seek out drug personalities, resulting in the death of thousands of drug suspects — most of them poor drug pushers whom law enforcers claimed to have “nanlaban” or tried to fight back.
But Duterte denied her involvement, merely dismissing the allegations as a “new script” against her.
Former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV also previously claimed that International Criminal Court investigators were on the verge of issuing an arrest warrant against former President Duterte as the main accused in its investigation into his bloody war against drugs during his administration, with Senator Bato dela Rosa and Sara herself as the secondary and tertiary accused.