Vice President Sara Duterte | PHOTO: Official Facebook apge of Inday Sara Duterte
MANILA, Philippines — Filing an impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte is “necessary” so that she can be held accountable over fund misuse allegations, the group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said on Monday.
In a statement, Bayan secretary general Mong Palatino said Duterte’s refusal to answer questions on the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) confidential fund (CF) usage during budget deliberations might be enough basis for an impeachment complaint to be filed against her.
“Impeaching Sara Duterte is necessary to hold an erring official like her accountable for committing grave offenses that betrayed public trust. Her anomalous spending of confidential funds in 2022 and 2023, the irregularities in the distribution of funds during her term as education secretary, and her refusal to answer queries about these issues during the budget hearings are enough basis to remove her from office,” Palatino said.
“Impeaching Duterte is crucial to uphold transparency and accountability in governance. It will serve as a warning to corrupt officials that being elected into power does not give them a license to commit serious misconduct in office,” he added.
Palatino was referring to the August 27 hearing of the House of Representatives’ committee on appropriations, when Duterte answered lawmakers’ questions by saying that she either forgoes the opportunity to defend the OVP’s budget in a question-and-answer format, or by insisting that they have already coordinated with the Commission on Audit (COA) regarding the notice of disallowance.
The panel was discussing the OVP’s proposed budget for 2025 which Duterte believes should be the sole focus of the discussions. However, lawmakers said how the OVP spent the previous years’ allocations is crucial and germane to crafting the budget for next year.
READ: Duterte refuses to answer OVP budget questions, sparks House tension
Duterte and her staff also skipped the subsequent hearing by the appropriations panel, and did not attend plenary debates scheduled on Monday.
According to Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan, he was informed that the House was ready to tackle the OVP’s proposed budget at 10:00 a.m. but the OVP representative they sent did not carry a letter of authority.
READ: Sara Duterte, OVP rep no-show yet at House plenary debate on budget
“Instead of fulfilling her duty to properly account for and explain the misuse of funds of her office, Duterte vilified her critics and used squid tactics to evade accountability,” Platino said.
“Duterte treated public funds like a trust fund that she can keep and dole out for political mileage. She committed these crimes amid widespread hunger and poverty in the country while claiming to be a dutiful public servant. Such dishonesty and unethical behavior make her grossly unfit to remain as a public official,” he added.
Earlier, groups staged a protest in front of the Batasang Pambansa complex’s South Gate, calling for Duterte’s impeachment. According to Palatino, more protests would be held this week.
The Duterte and the OVP are currently under fire after budget hearings at the House revealed issues on the OVP’s CFs in 2022 and 2023, and alleged anomalies in the delivery of projects.
House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe previously said that Duterte may be held liable for graft if she cannot explain how funds were spent, particularly the items with adverse findings from the Commission on Audit (COA).
The COA issued a notice of disallowance on P73.2 million of the OVP’s P125-million CF for 2022 — an item that several lawmakers said should not be available in the first place, as the original budget crafted under former vice president Leni Robredo did not have such.
The observations have led the House committee on good government and public accountability to check on the issues surrounding OVP’s budget utilization.
READ: OVP hit for using only 0.4% of its Magnegosyo Ta Day funds
READ: Sara Duterte’s confidential fund spending raises new, more doubts