Romualdez warns VP Duterte: No noise can drown out truth

House Speaker Martin Romualdez answers on Monday, Nov. 25, 2024, the accusations and threats that Vice President Sara Duterte hurled against him and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. — Photo from the House Facebook page

MANILA, Philippines — No amount of noise can drown out the truth, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez warned Vice President Sara Duterte on Friday as he accused her of diverting the public’s attention from issues her office was facing.

In a speech at the House on Monday, Romualdez said Duterte hurled “unfounded and baseless accusations” against him — that he is supposedly plotting to destroy the vice president ahead of the 2028 presidential race — just to distract the people from the real issues at hand.

Romualdez was referring to the issues raised during the House committee on good government and public accountability, particularly allegations of fund use irregularities in the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd).

“Why these baseless accusations? The answer is simple: to divert attention from mounting evidence of fund misuse under her leadership at the [OVP] and the [DepEd].  The issues surrounding confidential and intelligence funds, the questionable disbursements, and the lack of transparency demand answers. We will not tolerate and accept vague explanations and evasive responses,” Romualdez said.

“Instead of providing clarity, we have seen attempts to shift the narrative, to create distractions, and to fabricate stories.  But let me remind everyone: The truth is resilient. No amount of noise can drown it out,” Romualdez added.

Romualdez also reiterated his challenge to the vice president — that she should just face questions thrown at her.

“If you’re not hiding anything, why won’t you answer the questions? It is the right of the people to know the truth. Accountability is not optional. Transparency is not negotiable. Those entrusted with public funds must be prepared to explain where it was disbursed, and how these resources were utilized,” Romualdez said in a mix of Filipino and English.

“This is not personal. This is a discussion about accountability and public trust,” he added.

Romualdez previously dared Duterte to show up at the House hearings if she did not want her office staffers to be quizzed regarding fund use issues.

Persecution?

In an interview on the sidelines of the Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair (BPSF) in Albay province, Romualdez was asked about Duterte’s recent statement that the biggest challenge for her now was seeing Office of the Vice President (OVP) officials supposedly being dragged into attempts to persecute her.

“Then she should have shown up and taken the oath, and talk and explain because all of her officials don’t seem to know…I think it’s only her who knows what happened with the funds,” he said in Filipino.

“That’s why she should explain, she should not give this responsibility to the officials. I hope she talks,” he added.

A day after these statements from Romualdez, it was revealed that Duterte visited her chief of staff, Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez, who was detained at the House premises. Duterte then spent the night inside the Batasang Pambansa complex, as she locked herself inside the room of her brother, Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte.

But when the House committee decided to transfer Lopez to the Correctional Institute for Women, Duterte held a briefing and cursed Romualdez, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos, before threatening to kill them.

In the same briefing, Duterte said that she had already talked to a contract killer about assassinating Romualdez and the Marcos couple if she would get killed.

READ: Sara Duterte’s kill remark vs Marcos is ‘active threat’ – Palace

Earlier, Romualdez said Duterte’s statements threatened the country’s democracy, noting that violence should not have a place in Philippine society.

Prior to Romualdez’s speech, President Marcos already addressed Duterte’s threat, saying that he would fight it.

Marcos also said that it seems that it would be easy to plot the death of an ordinary citizen if people could freely talk about planning a hit on a president.