Not only honesty but also humility would seem to be non-existent in the vocabulary of the Dutertes and the people close to them.
Didn’t Sara Duterte, the then-mayor of Davao City in 2019, say that honesty should not be an election issue because everybody lies anyway?
Now that she’s facing an impeachment trial over her questionable use of millions of pesos in public funds and her statements about having President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., first lady Liza Araneta and House Speaker Martin Romualdez assassinated, among other culpable violations of the Constitution and high crimes, the country’s No. 2 official trivializes a constitutional process to make it appear she’s not at all affected by the sudden turnabout of an overwhelming number of lawmakers who earlier refused to have her impeached.
Appearing at a press conference on Friday to respond to the fast-tracked impeachment by the House two days prior, Duterte said, “Ang tanging masasabi ko na lamang sa puntong ito ay (The only thing I can say about this is), God save the Philippines.” She thanked her supporters who continue to stand by her, saying, “Manalig kayo dahil sa taumbayan ang tagumpay (Have faith because victory is with the people).”
She showed up late for the press conference, which had been called for 10 a.m., but she was fully made up and smiling. Despite an advisory repeatedly announcing before she came that she would not take in questions after reading a statement, the vice president gamely answered some queries but avoided others.
After the press conference, Sara was asked about her message for the upcoming Valentine’s Day. “It is more painful being dumped by a boyfriend or a girlfriend than to be impeached by the House of Representatives,” she said, trying to belittle the process provided for in the Constitution.
While she appeared unaffected, her brothers sounded combative in their reactions to the vice president’s impeachment by the House.
Older brother Paolo, the Davao City congressman, warned: “This administration is treading on dangerous ground. If they were unfazed by the over 1 million rallying supporters of the Iglesia Ni Cristo, then they are blindly marching toward an even greater storm — one that could shake the very foundations of their rule.”
“If the Marcos administration thinks they can push this sham impeachment without consequence, they are gravely mistaken,” he added.
Younger brother Sebastian, the mayor of Davao City, posted on Threads, “Cornered animals become aggressive, Martin Romualdez, Bongbong Marcos.”
Former president Rodrigo Duterte has yet to speak about his daughter’s predicament.
Paolo, in a strongly worded statement, said he was “appalled and enraged” by the “desperate” attempt of his colleagues in the House of Representatives to railroad the impeachment of his sister. He accused Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin of leading a “sinister maneuvering … to hastily collect signatures and push for the immediate approval and transmittal of this baseless impeachment case” that he described as “a clear act of political persecution.”
Garin denied the allegation, describing it as “very malicious” and “totally baseless.” Wondering aloud how he got the wrong information, Garin dared Paolo, “It would’ve been good if he [would] attend sessions and meetings in Congress so that he [could] get the correct and firsthand information.”
Salvador Panelo, chief legal counsel of former president Duterte, was partly correct that some people behind the impeachment have the ulterior motive to have the vice president disqualified in the 2028 presidential election.
However, she had numerous opportunities to answer questions on her alleged misuse of P612 million in confidential funds and other irregularities in the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, but she came up with so many excuses and diversions, which complicated the issues, particularly when she revealed in a pre-dawn virtual conference that she had talked to someone whom she had instructed to kill Marcos, the first lady and the House speaker.
Panelo said the impeachment “will only galvanize people’s support” for Sara. “This will fan the flames of disgust and rage against their willful and brazen violation of the guarantees enshrined in the Constitution.”
Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, however, went out of bounds when he mocked and taunted Akbayan Rep. Perci Cendaña, a signatory to the first impeachment complaint against the vice president. “Your face looks as though it has been punched; that’s why it’s skewed. Come here so I can punch the other side of your face and make it balanced,” he wrote in Bisaya, commenting on a Facebook post featuring Cendaña’s remarks on the vice president’s reaction to her impeachment by the House.
Dela Rosa’s remarks drew sharp criticism from a group of physicians and health advocates, who described it as “not just cruel — it is an insult to the dignity of persons with health conditions.” Cendaña is a stroke survivor.
The Dutertes and their ilk have made spewing insults and threats normal in responding to questions concerning abuse of power in a blatant display of arrogance. Instead of showing humility, they manipulate people with their overinflated egos in the guise of defending the oppressed and the poor.
What are the Dutertes up to this time? Paolo said, “The Filipino people will not sit idly by as this government undermines democracy and silences opposition through fabricated accusations.” Why don’t they just present Mary Grace Piattos and others to prove they’re real people and that they received millions in confidential funds? Paolo has not also explained how the P51 billion pork allocated for his district during the last three years of his father’s presidency was spent.
Too many questions about how they spent public funds during their long years in government remain unanswered. Yet, they conveniently invoke God in their political predicament.
The views in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of VERA Files.
This column also appeared in The Manila Times.
