Attacking a vice president was the Duterte government’s game plan

MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers have rejected Vice President Sara Duterte's accusation that they are using the issue of her office's secret funds to discredit her, saying attacks on a sitting vice president were the game plan of the previous administration.

In a press conference on Wednesday, 1st party-list Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez and 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V of La Union were asked about Duterte's claims that lawmakers are attacking them because vice presidents are always perceived as candidates for the presidency.

Gutierrez denied her accusation.

“Maybe that's the strategy of the previous administration, but as far as we're concerned, I don't care who will be president in 2028. What we care about now is the budget, that's all I can say about any possible intrigue,” Gutierrez said.

Ortega, meanwhile, said Duterte may have come to this conclusion because he was familiar with the situation.

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“Siguro trusts sila dun, 'no? Noong nakaraang administration. Hindi naman po attack kasi 'yong ginagawa namin, we focus on the problems,” he said.

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(Perhaps you are familiar with this because this was the case under the previous administration. We do not attack, we focus on the problems.)

“The problem is that there are no problems, it is a problem, that is not the same, the problem is that there is no attack, but self-inflicted problem,” he added.

(Most of the issues she brought up, her feeling of being attacked, most of those attacks came from her, it seems like she was self-inflicted.)

In March 2021, then-Vice President Leni Robredo's spokesman Barry Gutierrez complained that the administration of then-President Rodrigo Duterte appeared more interested in attacking Robredo than solving problems related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

READ: Leni camp: Administration spends more time denigrating Robredo than solving problems

In January 2021, Gutierrez asked former Overseas Workers Welfare Association deputy executive director Mocha Uson to spare Robredo's office from her “silliness” as she blamed Robredo and her supporters for the rumors circulating about her alleged romance with actor Robin Padilla, which Uson refuted.

READ: ÖVP spokesman says to Mocha Uson: Don't drag us into your nonsense

In a video released by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) on Wednesday, Duterte claimed that the criticism she was receiving stemmed from a desire to disparage a vice president who was likely to become president.

“Unexpectedly, people are capable of doing things and they will not settle for politics. “It wasn't that I didn't get to know the vice president because he was questioning what he had done to the president,” she said.

(My message to my fellow Filipinos: Don't let the political noise sway you. As we see in history, they always attack the vice presidents because people see them as possible next presidents.)

“So, every one of his favorite presidents was the vice president. “Kaya 'wag sila magpadala sa ingay ng paninira at pulitika,” she added.

(That is why they attack the vice president first of all presidential candidates. This is why people should not be influenced by discrediting attempts and politics.)

Ortega stressed that the House of Representatives had always stuck to current issues and pointed out that the discussions always revolved around budgetary issues.

“In the House of Representatives, from the beginning, even during press conferences, we have stuck to the issues, if there are any. If there is criticism, after the criticism, after we have dealt with the deeper content, we offer solutions. We discuss them on the basis of the issues, that's clear,” he said.

Duterte is currently under fire after budget hearings in the House of Representatives revealed issues related to the OVP's confidential funds in 2022 and 2023, as well as irregularities in the implementation of Department of Education projects during her tenure as Education Secretary.

Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe said on Tuesday that Duterte could be held liable for corruption if she fails to explain how the funds were spent, especially on items with negative findings by the Commission on Audit (COA).

The COA issued a notice of non-approval of P73.2 million of the OVP's P125 million CF for 2022 – an item that several lawmakers said should not have been available since it was not included in the original budget drafted under Robredo.

READ: Vice President Sara Duterte could be held liable for corruption – Dalipe

The lawmakers also criticized Duterte for skipping the OVP's budget deliberations on Tuesday – the second round of discussions after the talks were postponed on August 27 last year.

The deliberations were adjourned as Duterte failed to answer the lawmakers' questions directly. She responded that she would either forego the opportunity to defend the OVP budget in a question-and-answer format or insist that they had already coordinated with the COA on the rejection notice.

READ: OVP budget talks for 2025 postponed again; panel ends hearings