Castro on VP Sara showing up at drug war hearing: Attend OVP fund probe

Vice President Sara Duterte. Photo from the House of Representatives of the Philippines’ Facebook page.

MANILA, Philippines — While it was unclear why Vice President Sara Duterte showed up at Wednesday’s House hearing on the drug war where her father former President Rodrigo Duterte was present, ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro said the younger Duterte should attend the probe into her office’s fund use.

The Vice President entered the People’s Center at 4:30 p.m. while quad committee members were in the middle of questioning her father about alleged extrajudicial killings committed during the drug war.

Castro believes the Vice President got it all wrong as she should be at the House committee on good government and public accountability’s hearing on allegations of fund misuse in the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) under Duterte’s watch.

“Instead of showing up at the Quad committee hearing just to watch it, VP Duterte should instead attend the good government and public accountability [panel’s] hearings and truthfully answer how she spent the confidential funds of the OVP and DepEd,” Castro said.

Just before Vice President Duterte arrived, Castro was questioning former President Duterte about his ties to businessman Michael Yang, his former economic adviser who was linked to the illegal drug trade.

“If there is evidence that he is involved in the illegal drug trade, you will kill Michael Yang?” Castro asked in Filipino.

“Yes, believe it,” Duterte replied in Filipino.

Duterte even said that he would call Castro to be a “witness to a murder.”

READ: Garma says Davao drug war template, rewards system applied in entire PH

Vice President Duterte, meanwhile, has not attended the good government panel hearings after showing up at the first meeting.

The committee has been investigating fund misuse allegations within the OVP and DepEd under Duterte, including the supposed irregularities in confidential fund expenditures.

The Commission on Audit (COA) has issued a notice of disallowance on P73.2 million of the OVP’s P125-million confidential funds for 2022, an item which several lawmakers said should not be available in the first place as the original budget crafted during the time of former vice president Leni Robredo did not have such.

The observations have led the committee to check on the issues surrounding the OVP’s budget utilization.

House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe previously said that Vice President Duterte may be held liable for graft if she cannot explain how funds were spent, particularly tems with adverse findings from the COA.

Last September 25, former Education Undersecretary Gloria Jumamil Mercado testified that envelopes containing money — supposedly from Duterte — may have been meant to influence her as she used to head DepEd’s procuring division.

According to Mercado, since her designation as head of the procuring entity, envelopes were handed to her by Assistant Secretary Sunshine Fajarda.

Mercado also said Vice President Duterte’s chief-of-staff Zuleika Lopez asked her to resign after she raised several concerns regarding the procurement for the agency’s computerization program.

READ: Alleged ‘envelopes’ from Duterte may have aimed to influence ex-DepEd Usec

The Vice President, however, said Mercado is just a disgruntled employee who solicited money from private companies, a claim which Mercado disputed.

READ: VP Duterte: Mercado ‘disgruntled’ ex-employee who solicited P16