Dutertes ‘diverting’ attention away from OVP fund misuse issue 鈥� Ortega
Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte (L) and Vice President Sara Duterte | PHOTOS: Official Facebook pages of Sebastian Duterte and Sara Duterte
MANILA, Philippines — La Union 1st District Rep. Paolo Ortega has accused the Dutertes of “diverting” public attention away from fund misuse allegations hounding the office of Vice President Sara Duterte.
In a press briefing on Monday, Ortega said Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte’s recent statements on the 2025 national budget are just a “distraction.”
Ortega and Bataan 1st District Rep. Geraldine Roman were asked about Mayor Duterte’s statements on his podcast — where he also claimed that the impeachment trial of his sister, Vice President Duterte, was a distraction from the budget controversy and the Marcos administration’s decreasing support.
According to Ortega, Vice President Duterte has yet to answer questions related to the identity of Mary Grace Piattos — the name that appeared on the acknowledgment receipts (ARs) of the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) confidential fund (CF) disbursements.
“Likewise, what they’re doing is just a distraction because they still have not answered who Mary Grace is, so what they are doing is to look for distraction, look for diversion so that the issue would not be discussed publicly. That’s their strategy,” he said in Filipino.
Article continues after this advertisementRoman, meanwhile, said that the allegations that the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) submitted to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for his signature had blank allocations for some items have been addressed already by the House committee on appropriations.
Article continues after this advertisementShe also noted that the grounds for the impeachment of the Vice President “came first” before the budget issue, which is now being tackled by the Supreme Court.
“I think it is clear, our committee on appropriations has talked about it and everything, there’s a perfect explanation to how the GAA was crafted, how it was signed into law,” she added.
Ortega also said that the issues raised by lawmakers against Vice President Duterte were publicly available and on record.
“We saw that we had the quad comm hearing, the committee on good government and public accountability had a hearing, so these are all inquiries, there were witnesses presented, there was concrete evidence submitted, compared to the theatrics and distractions that they are doing,” he said in Filipino.
“There’s a big difference. The people can see that because everything is on record, we were live, we were open to the public as compared to people who do not talk but are now suddenly talking. So that’s just theatrics, diversion,” he added.
Mayor Duterte, in his podcast Basta Dabawenyo, repeatedly questioned the timing of the impeachment of Vice President Duterte.
He also insisted that Congress, particularly the House of Representatives, must explain why there were blank items in the 2025 budget bill.
The issue stemmed from Davao City 3rd District Rep. Isidro Ungab and former President Rodrigo Duterte’s allegation that the GAB had blank provisions. Ungab said this was based on the copy of the bicameral conference committee report that was sent to House lawmakers before it was ratified.
READ: Duterte ally: Will raise budget ‘blanks’ issue before SC
However, acting appropriations chairperson and Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo clarified last January 27 that the blanks in the bicam report on the 2025 budget were only just for the final computation of the amendments made by lawmakers.
Quimbo reiterated that the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA) is legal, as the allocations on the then-proposed budget were already decided by the bicam members before both the House and the Senate ratified the report.
READ: Quimbo: Blanks in 2025 budget only for final computation
Vice President Duterte was impeached by the House last February 5 after 215 lawmakers filed and verified a fourth impeachment complaint hinged on several issues like alleged misuse of CF lodged within her offices, threats to government officials including President Marcos, and conduct unbecoming of a high-ranking official.
READ: House impeaches VP Sara Duterte, fast-tracking transmittal to Senate
Despite her previous pronouncements that she would show up to the impeachment trial, the Vice President said last February 7 that she is not keen on attending the trial.
House lawmakers questioned Duterte’s new stance, saying that she was previously quoted as saying that the proceedings are a welcome development for her so that she can address issues.
READ: VP Sara Duterte not keen on attending her impeachment trial
