Duterte bared on Tuesday, August 27, 2024, during the deliberation on the proposed budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP), that a House member had a recording of some lawmakers talking about a possible impeachment complaint against her.
The vice president said she had a copy of the record but would not release it.
“Which then brings us to the matter of impeachment. As a friend, I will not violate the confidence of a few members of the House of Representatives who have either recorded conversations or participated in shared conversations regarding impeachment proceedings against me,” Duterte said.
She said that talks on impeachment complaints against her are not new, citing a report from a national broadsheet where an unnamed lawmaker disclosed this.
“Talks of impeachment have been going on for several months now. In fact, a member of the Lower House has publicly declared in an interview where she was quoted by the Philippine Daily Inquirer saying that: ‘In light of the possible numerous violations of the OVP on the use of the P125 million confidential fund, which is not in the 2022 General Appropriations Act, we are not discounting the fact that it may file an impeachment case against the Vice President’,” she said.
“Surprisingly, despite the absence of proof as to any wrongdoing, she has already revealed the grounds for impeachment when she was also quoted saying: ‘Especially on the misuse of public funds and technical malversation and violating the 1987 Constitution’,” she added.
The vice president took the quote from an August 26, 2023 story where ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro said that they are mulling the filing of an impeachment complaint against the Vice President.
In the report, Castro said back then that the possible impeachment complaint was in connection to a suspicion that the OVP may have spent the P125-million confidential funds (CF) in 2022 even though the original OVP budget, crafted under former vice president Leni Robredo, did not have such an item.
Duterte responded by saying that Castro did not deserve any explanation because the accusations were speculative.
Castro clarified that the House leadership is not involved in discussing the possibility of filing an impeachment complaint against Duterte, saying it is just a “casual conversation” between lawmakers.
Lawmakers denied on August 21, 2024, the claim of Duterte that there were efforts to file an impeachment complaint against her.
In a statement, House Deputy Majority Leader and Iloilo First District Representative Janette Garin and 1-Rider party-list representative Rodge Gutierrez said the move to subpoena the OVP based on Commission on Audit (COA) reports on the use of confidential funds by the OVP was made to ensure that it is being used properly.
Congress stripped the OVP, as well as the Department of Education, to which the vice president previously served as Education Secretary, of P650 million in confidential funds under the proposed 2024 national budget.
This came after it was found that the OVP spent P125 million worth of confidential funds in a span of just 11 days in 2022, despite not including it in the line of budgeting of the agency.
The said funds were part of the P221.4 million released by the Office of the President (OP), under its contingent fund, to the OVP on December 13, 2022.
On August 20, 2024, Duterte said that despite their persistent denial, House lawmakers are continuously talking about her impeachment.
“Pinag-uusapan nila kahit na i-deny nila. Pinag-uusapan ng members ng House of Representatives. Kasi meron pa naman kaming mga kaibigan diyan sa loob eh na hindi lang nagsasalita dahil takot daw sila. So sinasabi nila it’s openly discussed ‘yung impeachment,” Duterte said, noting that House members wanted the public to perceive their family as corrupt, criminals, useless, and selfish.
“Sinabi ko na dati, we are a threat to the perpetuation in power of people na interesado maging, sabihin na nating, prime minister kung matuloy ‘yung niluluto nilang Cha-cha o president kung hindi maluto ‘yung Cha-cha nila,” she added.
