DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/ 7 February) — Vice-president Sara Duterte said she might consider having her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, in her defense team at the impeachment trial before the Senate, “if he wants to.”
“Well, he is welcome. He is a lawyer. So he is welcome to give his advice and to give input in the defense,” Duterte said in a livestreamed press conference Friday morning.
But the elder Duterte’s advanced age might make her daughter think twice about making him lead the defense team due to the rigorous preparations needed for an impeachment trial.
Sara said she was overwhelmed by the number of lawyers who offered help as her counsel.
The vice president said their legal team has been preparing since ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro bared her plan to file an impeachment complaint last November.
The first impeachment complaint, led by Akbayan Rep. Perci Cendaña, accuses Duterte of betrayal of public trust for allegedly not properly accounting for P125 million in confidential funds for the Office of the Vice President in 2022, and not liquidating cash advances amounting to P7 billion as Education secretary.
The second complaint, submitted on December 4 by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, also accuses the Vice President of betrayal of public trust for alleged misuse of confidential funds.
The third complaint, filed on December 19 by Catholic priests, civil society leaders and lawyers, alleges plunder, malversation, bribery, and graft and corruption in relation to the P125 million in confidential funds in 2022 for the OVP and P112.5 million in 2023 for the Department of Education.
Sara refused to participate in budget hearings where the alleged misuse of these funds was scrutinized.
Asked if she had the numbers at the Senate, Sara said, “Malayo pa tayo diyan (We are from that situation).”
“I have never talked with my friends in the Senate,” Duterte said.
Christopher “Bong” Go and Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, the Dutertes’ staunch allies in the Senate, are up for reelection in May.
Under the Constitution, a vote by at least two-thirds of the Senate is needed to convict an impeached official.
‘God save the Philippines’
“Ang tanging masasabi ko na lamang sa puntong ito ay, God save the Philippines (At this point, all I can say is, God save the Philippines),” Sara, reading her official statement during the press conference, said.
She said the country’s progress is severely “left behind by time.”
She said the chaos in Mindanao during the 1990s seems to be “resurfacing” today. She did not elaborate.
The vice president said ordinary Filipinos, especially daily wage earners, “struggle to afford basic necessities like food, electricity, housing, water, and education for their children.”
She declined to comment when asked if she would opt to resign from her position. (Ian Carl Espinosa/MindaNews)
