VP Sara Duterte —RICHARD A. REYES
Vice President Sara Duterte on Friday said she would not attend a House of Representatives probe of her use of funds allocated to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd), which she used to lead.
Duterte, on the sidelines of the OVP’s 89th anniversary celebration, told reporters that she would instead provide written replies to findings of fund misuse in the OVP and the DepEd.
“I won’t attend the next hearings. I already went there … but we plan to send a letter [and] we plan to say why. And then, I plan as well to submit an affidavit about the confidential funds since the affidavit [is done] under oath,” Duterte said.
The House committee on good government and accountability, led by Manila Rep. Joel Chua, is conducting an inquiry, which is expected to resume on Nov. 20.
Duterte has so far attended only the Sept. 18 House hearing but refused to take an oath.
READ: 1 of 7 OVP officials linked to alleged fund misuse left PH – House
In the last Nov. 11 hearing, the House panel found that nearly half of the OVP’s 2022 and 2023 budget went to the upkeep of satellite offices nationwide.
Four OVP officials were also cited in contempt of Congress for snubbing the summons sent by the chamber.
Duterte argued that the ongoing inquiry in the lower chamber was “unnecessary.”
But the Vice President’s sudden appearance in the audience of Wednesday’s quad committee hearing opened an opportunity for Chua to hand her a letter requesting her presence at the next hearing.
Clarification
Based on the letter dated Nov. 13, Chua sought clarification on the OVP’s budget utilization, including “questions on the projects/programs and/or beneficiaries of said programs … regular and confidential funds.”
Meanwhile, a topic that escalated tensions during the quad committee hearing was the alleged drug money trail traced to the bank accounts of the Duterte family.
READ: VP Sara Duterte on House probe into OVP funds
The issue of the suspicious bank transactions, worth P2.4 billion, supposedly between the Dutertes and businessman and suspected drug lord Sammy Uy was revived by former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV in the quad committee inquiry, which was attended by former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Of the total amount in question, P14.9 million supposedly went to bank accounts under the name of “Sara Zimmerman Duterte.”
Asked to comment on the issue, the Vice President said she had no idea about the transactions and already asked about the supposed accounts when they came to light in 2016.
But the bank could not explain as well why the accounts were linked to her, she added.