A HOUSE member on Wednesday reiterated the call for Vice President Sara Duterte to face the ongoing investigation of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and other agencies on her alleged death threat against President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez of 1-Rider Partylist renewed the call after Duterte skipped for the second time an NBI hearing on her alleged death threat against the President. Her lawyer instead showed up on her behalf.
“I think it’s unfortunate, although we respect the decision of the OVP. I think the opinion was that based on their lawyer’s advice, they can just file a counter affidavit. However, we were of the position that the Vice President should take every avenue to clear their name, to clear the office’s name, clear her name,” Gutierrez said.
He cited that the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability even suspended one of its hearings so the Vice President could attend the NBI probe.
“So you can see very clearly where we stand. We’re here to afford her the opportunity to answer po the allegations even from other government bodies. We repeat po yung panawagan namin and we hope the she participates not only in the NBI, I understand marami na pong nasampang kaso. I hope she participates with the all the agencies as far as the rule of law is concerned po,” Gutierrez said.
Meanwhile, Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua Chua said it was not the House members but the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) that said that 405 recipients of confidential funds from the OVP and Department of Education have no birth records.
“Well, hindi naman po kami ang nagsabi na ito’y hindi nag e-exist, kung hindi bina base lang po namin sa record na binigay sa amin ng PSA. So based sa record ng PSA eh walang mga pinanganak or na ganito yung mga pangalan. Around 405 kung hindi po ako nagkakamali and the rest po ay maraming kapangalan,” Chua said.
The two lawmakers held a press briefing after filing House Bill 11192, regulating the allocation and utilization of confidential and intelligence funds, and imposing penalties for their misuse and misappropriation, as well as HB 11193, regulating Special Disbursing Officers and imposing penalties for misuse and misappropriation of funds.
“May mga parusa bukod siyempre sa mga administrative at saka sa mga criminal liability. Nilalagay rin dito na kapag ikaw ay mapatunayan na nag-violate dito sa mga batas na ito, eh magkakaroon ka ng perpetual disqualification to hold public office. Pero siyempre lahat naman ng mga ito, dadaan pa ito sa committee,” Chua said
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