VICE President Sara Duterte said she is tapping her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, as one of her lawyers for all the impeachment cases that were filed against her at the House of Representatives.
Three impeachment suits were filed against the vice president, relating to the alleged misuse of confidential funds in the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, as well as threats she made against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez.
In an ambush interview in Davao City on Wednesday after the traditional gift-giving of their family to their constituents, Duterte confirmed that the former president is preparing the documents to be submitted to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines to be a “lawyer of good standing.”
“What I understand is that he wants to be on board as collaborating counsel on all of my cases, including the impeachment cases,” Duterte said in Bisaya.
She said this was what they agreed to do, instead of giving her money to help her with the costs of her legal defense.
She also said that her lawyers are now doing an inventory of all the cases based on interviews and on what they heard in the media, as well as from different agencies and the hearings at the House of Representatives, Department of Justice, National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police.
Duterte denied any wrongdoing.
“I am confident that I did not break any law, I did not do anything illegal, but as we see right now, there is no rule of law. So we will face all cases that were filed against us,” Duterte said.
The Makabayan bloc of lawmakers in the House, one of the sponsors of the impeachment cases against the vice president, assailed the plan to have her father lawyer for her as “a desperate political maneuver” to evade accountability for her misuse of confidential funds.
“Instead of directly answering the questions on the misuse of confidential funds, she is hiding [behind] her father. This is clearly a desperate attempt to rally political support following her declining satisfaction ratings,” ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro said.
Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel added that the father-daughter legal team-up would be a “political spectacle.”
Without providing details, the vice president said her office would continue its work despite having its budget cut.
The bicameral conference committee is slated to give the OVP a budget of P733 million in 2025, comparable to the 2022 budget given to former vice president Leni Robredo before she stepped down.
“We at the Office of the Vice President continue our service to our countrymen, and we will assure that we will strengthen it for our fellow Filipinos,” Duterte said.
In an earlier press briefing, Duterte said that the OVP may remove some of its projects to compensate for the budget cut that Congress approved.
Meanwhile, the House quad committee said its series of hearings on the links of Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGOs), illegal drugs, and extrajudicial killings said that it has filed five initial measures to address urgent flaws and gaps in the country’s legal framework on these issues.
In a statement on Thursday, the panel’s lead chairman, Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, said that the bills were House Bill 10986 – Classifying and penalizing extra-judicial killings as a heinous crime, while providing reparations for the victims; House Bill 10987 – Prohibiting all forms of offshore gaming operations in the country, with severe penalties for violations; House Bill 11043 – Allowing civil forfeiture of unlawfully acquired real estate properties by foreign nationals; House Bill 11117 – Providing for the administrative cancellation of birth certificates fraudulently obtained by foreign nationals, and House Bill 10998 – Punishing conspiracy and proposal to commit espionage.
Barbers added that the panel has also recommended at least 30 amendments intended to strengthen some existing laws and ensure that certain abuses and misdeeds in the past are prevented from happening again.
“Out of the series of hearings conducted by quad com, lawmakers and the public were informed and enlightened on how criminals and unscrupulous individuals or groups managed to use the flaws, loopholes and weaknesses on some of our existing laws, in the furtherance of their criminal activities,” Barbers said.
He said local and foreign syndicates used the weaknesses and loopholes of Philippine laws to conduct their illegal businesses in the country.
The House quad committee is composed of the House Committees on Dangerous Drugs, Public Order and Safety, Human Rights, and Public Accounts.
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