'You will find me unbowed'

(UPDATE) VICE President Sara Duterte remained unfazed as she again faced members of the House of Representatives, saying she would not bow to them.

Duterte on Wednesday attended the Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability's hearing on the budget of the Office of the Vice President.

“You may try to destroy me; you can skin me alive and throw my ashes to the wind. But let it be known: You will find me unbowed,” she told the lawmakers.

She requested the committee to end its hearing “for its clear lack of any proposed legislation or substantive matter for discussion.”

“The truth is, the budget is not your target because it is very easy to remove a budget. What you are trying to do is make a case for impeachment,” she said.

Duterte on Wednesday asserted that there was “no misuse of funds.”

She maintained that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) had done nothing wrong.

“There is no misuse of funds. If there are audit findings, we shall gladly respond to them before the Commission on Audit. And if there are legitimate cases to be filed, then we shall gladly respond to them before the appropriate courts,” Duterte said.

She reiterated her decision not to defend the OVP's 2025 budget, leaving it to the discretion of the leadership of the House of Representatives.

“I am not asking for any special treatment, nor am I asking you to uphold any tradition. There is no disrespect. All I am saying is that you have the complete freedom to do whatever you wish to the OVP budget,” she said.

Duterte refused to take the oath to tell the truth at the start of the hearing on the alleged misuse by her office of millions in funds for socio-economic programs.

She invoked the committee's rules on inquiries in aid of legislation under which she said only witnesses were given the oath, arguing that she attended as a resource person.

Former president and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo came to Duterte's defense, citing a Supreme Court ruling and a Senate precedent wherein a witness is given more protection than a resource person since the former may find himself or herself as an accused.

Committee chairman and Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua ruled that the former president's remarks were noted.

Manila 2nd District Rep. Rolando Valeriano, in his remarks, stressed that the congressional inquiry was necessary due to the lack of evidence regarding how the OVP spent the budgets on socioeconomic programs from July 2022 to the present.

Valeriano said Duterte's refusal to answer questions regarding OVP's proposed budget for 2025 and the “questionable” utilization of the office's previous budgets that were flagged by the Commission on Audit are the reasons the hearing was conducted.

He said the OVP had not submitted documents to support its claims of socioeconomic programs benefiting over 2 million individuals in the National Capital Region.

Chua, meanwhile, highlighted Congress' vital role in overseeing government spending.

“We have to ensure that funds are spent solely for purposes for which they have been appropriated,” Chua said.

Never again

In an interview with reporters, Duterte said that she would never team up with the Marcoses again.

She said in mixed Filipino and English that she will announce her decision whether to run or not in the 2028 elections “in the fourth quarter of 2026.”

Duterte was the running mate of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the 2022 elections.

“Hindi kami magkaibigan (We are not friends),” she said of the President. “We only met because we became running mates.”

“My friend really is Sen. Imee Marcos. She has known me since 2012,” Duterte added.

She said her last conversation with the President was when she tendered her resignation from his Cabinet.

She resigned earlier this year as secretary of the Department of Education.

WITH PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY