VP Duterte to snub House inquiry on alleged fund misuse

Vice President Sara Z. Duterte, shown in tech monitor, calls critics of her confidential funds terrorists during a Peace Village Exhibit held at the ground floor of the SM City Davao Annex in Davao City on Monday, 11 Sept. MindaNews photo by YAS D. OCAMPO

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 16 November) — Vice President Sara Duterte will not attend the inquiry scheduled on November 20 on the alleged misuse of funds of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education during her time as Education secretary conducted by the committee on good governance and accountability of the House of Representatives.

During the 89th Anniversary of the OVP on Friday, Duterte told reporters that she plans to send a letter to the committee stating her reasons for her non-participation in the investigation in aid of legislation and will submit instead an affidavit on the confidential funds.

Last Wednesday, the Vice President was personally served an invitation from the House to attend its panel inquiry during the investigation by the committees on dangerous drugs, public order & safety, human rights and public accounts (quad comm) on the previous administration’s “drug war” where her father, former President Rodrigo R. Duterte, served as a resource person.

Earlier that day, the Vice President attended a budget deliberation in the Senate. 

She said the next inquiry would be a “waste of time” because she was not asked any questions during the hearing by the same joint committee last September 18.

She added she did know why she was invited but was never asked questions.

During the September 18 hearing, Duterte refused to take her oath as a resource person.

She claimed she was absent in the previous inquiries because she received no invitation, and that she was only invited once.

“At the Senate, they asked me why I didn’t go to the hearings [of the House of Representatives]. It’s true, they forgot to invite me. They invited me there only once during the first hearing. I went and sat there, they didn’t even ask me. I just sat there. My time was wasted so I asked them if I could leave, and they allowed me to leave,” she said.

In a report by ABS-CBN News, Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua, chair of the committee on good governance and accountability, refuted Duterte, saying she was also invited to attend the second hearing held last Sept. 25.

Last November 11, the House cited in contempt OVP officials Lemuel Ortonio, Gina Acosta, lawyer Sunshine Charry A. Fajarda and Edward Fajarda, and ordered their detention at the House until the committee completes its final report on the investigation for deliberation in the plenary.

The hearing last Monday marked the fifth time these OVP executives did not attend the hearing.

Lawyer Rosalynne l. Sanchez, Julieta Villadelrey, and Kevin Jerome Teñido were among the OVP executives who attended the proceedings.

As for Undersecretary Zuleila Lopez, Duterte’s chief of staff, the committee will send her another subpoena testificandum requiring her to attend the next hearing for “humanitarian consideration.”

In her excuse letter addressed to the committee, Lopez said she must travel to the US from November 4 to 16 to attend to her ailing aunt.

A statement from the OVP confirmed Lopez’s US trip was personal and was approved by Duterte.

Lopez left Manila for Los Angeles aboard Philippine Airlines flight PR 102 at 7:31 p.m. on November 4, a day before the scheduled investigation in aid of legislation by the House committee on good governance and accountability.

House Deputy Speaker David Suarez, Quezon Province 2nd District representative, noted that it is important for these resource speakers, particularly Lopez, to attend the inquiry to shed light on issues about the OVP’s alleged misuse of funds. (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)

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