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Invited resource persons in congressional inquiries answer the question, ‘Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?’ but the Vice President challenged this when asked to go through the standard operating procedure
MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Sara Duterte made a surprise appearance during the House good government committee hearing that sought to discuss a privilege speech against issues involving her, but she refused to take oath, and left the proceedings even before lawmakers could throw questions at her.
At the start of the hearing on Wednesday, September 18, resource persons were asked to formally answer the question, “Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? So help you, God?” as part of standard operating procedures, but the Vice President challenged the request.
“Witnesses lang po ang ino-oath. Sabi ninyo sa amin ngayon, resource persons kami (You only administer an oath to witnesses. We are just resource persons),” Duterte told the committee chairman, Manila 3rd District Representative Joel Chua.
“Lahat po ay (everyone is) considered a resource person and witness,” Chua replied.
Former president and Pampanga 2nd District Representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, an ally of Duterte, came to her defense, arguing that the committee cannot trivialize the difference between a resource person and a witness.
“They’re not the same; the Supreme Court says they are not the same. Somebody who appears to be the accused has a different tier of protection from a witness, and in fact, can refuse to take the witness stand,” Arroyo said.
Bukidnon Representative Jonathan Keith Flores said the House has not accused anyone of wrongdoing yet, to which Arroyo shot back, “Look at the privilege speech!”
The speech that was the basis of Wednesday’s proceedings was delivered by Manila 2nd District Representative Rolando Valeriano, asking whether residents in Metro Manila benefited from the billions of pesos in socioeconomic programs that Congress allotted to the Office of the Vice President (OVP).
Valeriano decried Duterte’s refusal to explain how exactly she utilized public funds, and implied that her loyalties belong to “the one who blocks the boats of Filipino fishermen, or one who promotes POGOs (Philippine offshore gaming operators).”
Duterte’s presence, alongside appearances by her allies Arroyo and Sagip Representative Rodante Marcoleta during a hearing of a committee in which they were not members, underscored the importance of the hearing, even though the agenda stated to only be an “initial deliberation and preliminary determination” of Valeriano’s privilege speech.
Before the Vice President asked to leave the hearing early, she denied irregularities in her use of public funds, while accusing lawmakers yet again of plotting her impeachment as part of alleged efforts to derail her supposed 2028 presidential bid.
“I will not allow myself to be subjected to an inquiry based on an empty privilege speech just so you can attack me and do indirectly what you failed to do directly during the budget hearings,” Duterte said.
The ties between the Vice President and the House of Representatives led by Speaker Martin Romualdez have grown uglier in recent months, following Duterte’s resignation from the Cabinet of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in June.
Marcos and Duterte ran as a tandem in the 2022 elections and won by a landslide, but the two have struggled to maintain that alliance since they assumed office. – Rappler.com
