House leaders growing weary of Sara’s gripes

FILE PHOTO: Vice President Sara Duterte. INQUIRER / RICHARD A. REYES

The gloves are off for five ranking House leaders allied with President Marcos after they called Vice President Sara Duterte divisive, excessive, and “puro reklamo” (whiny) for continuing to gripe in public about the removal of 75 policemen from her 400-strong security detail.

In separate statements, Laguna Rep. Dan Fernandez, Zambales Rep. Jay Khonghun, La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega V, Manila Rep. Joel Chua and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong urged Duterte to “just do your job,” even reminding her that she was on vacation in Germany while Luzon was being pummeled by a supertyphoon on July 24.

Of the five lawmakers, Chua had the strongest words for Duterte, saying she should no longer “be given a free pass” when the P2-billion proposed budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) is taken up by the House of Representatives.

READ: Sara Duterte’s critique of government dismays at least 2 senators

“Her OVP budget must be scrutinized for every peso spent and not spent,” he said. “No more and never again shall the VP not be held to the same level of scrutiny as other public officials during the budget hearings,” he added, alluding to the millions of pesos in confidential funds enjoyed by her office in 2022 and 2023 before these were removed this year.

The lawmakers were reacting to Duterte’s open letter to Muslim Filipinos, in which she claimed the country was going nowhere while the government was doing nothing.

“Weren’t you the one who was not in the country at the height of the typhoon?” said Khonghun. “Please naman, do your duty as the country’s No. 2 official.” For Ortega, he didn’t understand why Duterte was making a “mountain out of a molehill” about the removal of 75 men from her security detail “when as it turns out she still has more than 400 security personnel.”

Complete opposite

Fernandez pointed out that for the Philippines, the ideal ratio of police deployment was one officer to 500 people—which was the complete opposite in her case.

“In fact, she should be thankful,” he said. “Having 400 men assigned to you when there are only 75 men in some of our far-flung islands is excessive and irrational.”

The vice president has been more critical of the government since she resigned from the Cabinet last month.

But even before that, she was spotted joining the “prayer rallies” in her hometown of Davao province, led by her father and former President Rodrigo Duterte, who earlier called President Marcos a drug addict. House Minority Leader France Castro, meanwhile, said that while she agreed with Duterte’s sentiments in her letter that the Philippines deserved better leaders, they should not be from her family or the Marcoses.

“We Filipinos, definitely deserve better and it will not come from the Dutertes or Marcoses,” Castro said, adding: “It will come from the ranks of the masses themselves who espouse the politics of change and true service to the people.” —WITH A REPORT FROM JEANNETTE I. ANDRADE