TENSION IN THE HOUSE Vice President Sara Duterte raises a point during her participation at a Nov. 26 hearing by the House committee on good government and public accountability. 鈥擧ouse of Representatives photo
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� Vice President Sara Duterte said over the weekend that she would attend the next hearing of a House of Representatives panel looking into the alleged misuse of funds, including millions in confidential funds, by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education.
Duterte answered in the affirmative when asked whether she would be present in the inquiry by the House committee on good government and public accountability, adding: 鈥淭hree resource persons [summoned] from the OVP expressed that they feel safer and calmer if I鈥檓 there.鈥�
No date has been scheduled yet for the next hearing.
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She also pushed back against lawmakers and called them out for 鈥渢errorizing鈥� her and the OVP personnel.
鈥淔irst of all, the presidency of 2022 was mine already,鈥� Duterte told reporters on Saturday night at Veterans Memorial Medical Center.
She was responding to a query about Zambales Rep. Jay Khonghun鈥檚 statement that what transpired the past week would not have happened if it wasn鈥檛 for her rage during a midnight press conference.
She reminded Khonghun that she 鈥済ave it (the presidency) away鈥� for others, or in this case, for her running mate Ferdinand Marcos Jr., now President.
Duterte said she had 鈥渙ther matters鈥� to attend to that she deemed more important than being president.
鈥淪econd of all, I never asked them to launch an investigation against me that has turned out into a political persecution,鈥� Duterte said in Filipino.
鈥淭hey keep saying that I started this chaos, but it鈥檚 not me at all; this chaos would not have started if not for their terrorism against me and the OVP personnel,鈥� she added.
Duterte, however, could not categorically say whether she would show up at the inquiry of the National Bureau of Investigation reset to Dec. 11. She earlier requested the probe鈥檚 postponement to a later date after she failed to show up last Friday.
The NBI issued a subpoena to Duterte last week over her statement that she contracted a hitman to kill Mr. Marcos, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and Speaker Martin Romualdez should an assassination plot against her succeed. 鈥攚ith reports from the Inquirer staff