VP Sara as opposition leader? Makabayan asks if she’s anti-corruption

NOT A WEAKNESS Vice President Sara Duterte says she is stepping down as education secretary not out of weakness but of concern for teachers and the youth, but did not give the reason for her irrevocable resignation. —SCREENGRAB FROM DEPED PHILIPPINES FACEBOOK PAGE

MANILA, Philippines—Another faction in the opposition has opposed claims that Vice President Sara Duterte’s resignation as Education secretary signals her being a leader of the opposition, asking if she is pro-human rights and against corruption.

In a press briefing on Thursday, Makabayan bloc lawmakers ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro, Gabriela party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas, and Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel questioned former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque’s anointing of Duterte as the opposition leader.

Brosas said that opposition stalwarts usually have a clean track record, which is why politicians oppose a ruling administration.

“Our position on that has been clear, she’s not a true opposition. First, we say that the person has to have a clean record, right?  That’s why you are in the opposition…But here, there are corruption issues when you spent confidential funds (CFs) in 11 days,” Brosas said, referring to reports that Duterte spent CFs transferred to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) in 2022.

“And second, she should push for human rights, but in that alone, she fails. She’s a red-tagger, there’s so many issues regarding human rights faced by (Vice President) Sara Duterte,” she added.

READ: Quimbo: OVP’s P125M secret fund in 2022 spent in just 11 days

Manuel, meanwhile, speculated that Roque labeled Duterte as an opposition only because they are opposed to a possible International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecution of her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.

The older Duterte is facing crimes against humanity complaints before ICC for alleged human rights violations in the drug war he implemented.

READ: Trillanes: ICC expected to issue arrest warrant vs Duterte by June or July

“Maybe they called the Duterte camp as an opposition because they are opposed to an ICC investigation, opposed to the pursuit of justice for the victims of the fake drug war. But these things are being asked by the people because we want justice and accountability,” Manuel said.

“If they do not want that, then they are not members of the opposition who serve the public.  They are only opposing because they do not want the Marcoses in power, and they want to replace the ruling party with themselves,” he added.

On Wednesday, the Presidential Communications Office relayed that Duterte has resigned from her posts as Education secretary and vice chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac).

Duterte held a press briefing at the Department of Education (DepEd) office to confirm her resignation.

READ: Sara Duterte resigns as DepEd secretary, says Palace

After the Vice President stepped down from her post, Roque said that Duterte emerged as the new leader of the opposition. Officials of the Liberal Party (LP) countered this, saying that their bloc is still the opposition to the Marcos and Duterte factions.

READ: VP Sara as new opposition leader? LP’s De Lima doesn’t think so

For Castro, if the Vice President wants to be a part of the opposition, she has to support causes raised by the public, like the fight against traditional jeepney phaseout.

“What former Secretary Harry Roque said regarding Sara being a leader of the position is unbelievable and unacceptable. Because she has not given out statements supporting the public’s cause, right?  Like for the PUV (public utility vehicle) modernization, she has not said anything,” Castro said.

“Up to now, she still carries the policies that she believed in before resigning as secretary of the Department of Education, like in topics such as support for the NTF-Elcac and other issues that she has been silent on,” she added.

Other personalities also lauded Duterte’s resignation from the DepEd post, which supposedly allows the government to clean up whatever mess was left.

Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua on Wednesday said that the Matatag curriculum crafted during the time of Duterte as Education secretary must be put on hold, along with alleged “brainwashing” in the DepEd.

INQUIRER.net sought the DepEd officials’ side regarding Chua’s statement, but they had not replied as of posting time.