I will not resign – Sara

VICE President Sara Duterte on Wednesday said she would not resign from her post amid calls from several lawmakers to quit due to her indifference in defending the budget of the Office of the Vice President. Duterte also answered several allegations over supposed fund misuse currently being raised in the House of Representatives Commission on Good Government and Public Accountability in the OVP and during her time at the Department of Education. In a rare press conference held at the Office of the Vice President in Mandaluyong City, Duterte said she believed that there were two options being presented to her as a "way out." "Sa tingin ko, sa mga nangyayari, wala silang kaso for impeachment, kaya sila hanap ng hanap ng gagamitin nila. Ang track nila [ACT Teachers Rep.] France Castro at ni [former senator Antonio] Trillanes [IV] ay impeachment, gumawa pa sila ng isang track ng resignation (I think, with what is happening right now, they don't have a case for Impeachment, that's why they are looking for one. They created two tracks for me. One, led by France Castro and Trillanes, is impeachment, and the other is resignation)," Duterte said. The resignation option was first raised by Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Raul Angelo Bongalon, a member of the Young Guns bloc, who said that since Duterte was not interested in her job as vice president, she should just leave the OVP. "Hindi ako sasagot sa Young Guns; kailangan kong sumagot sa 32 million na bumoto sa akin, hindi sa isa or dalawang tao. Kaya hindi ako aalis dito dahil inihalal ko ng mga tao dito (I will not answer the Young Guns; I only have to answer to the 32 million who voted for me, not just one or two people. That's why I am not leaving here as I was voted by the people) believing that I will work for the country and that is what we did)," Duterte said. Despite claims by the House leadership that there were no moves to impeach her, Duterte stressed that there was "someone" controlling Castro, Trillanes and Sen. Risa Hontiveros in pushing for her impeachment. Duterte reiterated that the reason she was not participating in the budget deliberations at the House of Representatives was because of her allegation that only Speaker Martin Romualdez and House Appropriations Panel Chairman and Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co are the ones controlling the budget of the country. She said she would see how they would spend the proposed P733 million budget and assured the public that the OVP would "continue to work" despite a decreased allocation. Duterte said she aimed to go to the Senate's plenary deliberations of the OVP's budget next month. Meanwhile, a leader of the House of Representatives said Wednesday the ongoing congressional inquiry into issues surrounding the Office of the Vice President's use of public funds was focused on ensuring accountability in government spending, denying accusations that it was politically motivated. House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability chairman Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua said the panel's sole aim was to ensure the proper use of public funds. "This committee is not about politics, not about attacks, it is not even about the release or approval of any budget, as some have implied. This investigation is not prompted by any motive other than a desire to make the numbers make sense," Chua said. "This committee, and these proceedings, are about accountability; we seek to learn the truth of how public money, ang pera ng taumbayan (the people's money), is being used and whether or not our current laws, rules, and procedures are sufficient to ensure the security and safety of these funds," he added. Chua noted that the amount of allegedly misused funds exceeded the legal threshold for plunder under Philippine law, as he pertained to the P125 million in confidential funds allocated to the OVP that was spent in just 11 days in 2022. The Commission on Audit (CoA) disallowed P73 million, representing nearly 60 percent of the P125 million in confidential funds. "I must stress at this point that the sheer vastness of these potentially misused funds sets this matter apart from other instances of irregularity and disallowance; these amounts easily surpass the threshold for the crime of plunder under our laws," Chua said. "It is incumbent upon us, who are duty-bound to ensure that our legislation and regulations are effective enough to protect the money of the people, to investigate and get to the bottom of these glaring irregularities." Chua said that the remaining P500 million set for 2023 is being reviewed, with only P51 million having been cleared by CoA so far. He further pointed out irregularities in the liquidation reports, noting that many expenses appeared to be rounded to even numbers and were repetitive, raising concerns about their accuracy. WITH PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY