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Amid criticism from House lawmakers, Vice President Sara Duterte affirms that she will never leave her position
MANILA, Philippines – Amid scrutiny at the House of Representatives, Vice President Sara Duterte rejected calls for her resignation, highlighting how millions of Filipino voters entrusted to her the country’s second highest position.
On Wednesday, September 25, Duterte called for a press briefing for the first time since 2022. Appearing relaxed, she addressed the media amid ongoing inquiries by critics in the House regarding her alleged misuse of funds.
The press briefing surprised reporters who had been covering the Vice President, as her office had been evasive about questions concerning the House probe. Her staff notified the media only an hour before the 2:30 pm briefing. At that time, former Department of Education (DepEd) undersecretary Gloria Mercado had testified before the House, claiming that Duterte gave her nine envelopes containing P50,000 each while she was in the department.
The Vice President said she was not personally attacking Mercado, but described the former DepEd executive as a “disgruntled” employee. Duterte accused Mercado of soliciting P16 million from a private company without her consent and challenged her to provide evidence of the envelope claims. During the House probe, Mercado presented the envelopes she alleged were given to her by Duterte.
Unfazed by the calls for her resignation, Duterte affirmed that she would never leave her position.
“Hindi ako sasagot sa ‘Young Guns’ dahil kailangan ko sumagot sa 32 million na bumoto sa akin. Hindi sa isa o dalawang tao. Hindi ako aalis dito dahil nilagay ako ng mga tao dito believing I will work for the country,” Duterte said.
(I’m not going to respond to the “Young Guns” because I need to answer to the 32 million who voted for me. Not to one or two people. I won’t leave this position because the people put me here believing I will work for the country.)
The “Young Guns” is a group of House members aged 40 and under, some of whom are serving their first terms as representatives. They have called for Duterte’s resignation, citing her absence at budget briefings as evidence of her seeming disinterest in her role.
Duterte reiterated that her office will make do with the P733 million-budget remaining after the House cut it from P2 billion. (READ: House passes Marcos admin’s proposed 2025 budget, cuts funding for Sara Duterte’s OVP)
Will the Senate go easy on her?
Although she consistently skipped House budget deliberations, Duterte said that she will attend the budget discussions in the Senate.
“Sigurado ‘yung attendance namin sa Senate. In fact, kahapon, na discuss namin sa opisina ng chief of staff kung ano ‘yung date sa Senate, pero apparently wala pa raw date, so naghihintay kami,” she said.
(We’re certain about our attendance in the Senate. In fact, yesterday we discussed at the chief of staff’s office what the date would be for the Senate, but apparently, no date has been set yet, so we’re just waiting.)
Amid Duterte’s conflict with House lawmakers, Senate President Chiz Escudero, with whom Duterte had exchanged barbs, stated in a previous interview that the Senate would “approve or modify the budget based on the merits of the proposals from each office — not on who heads them.”
Several senators have expressed support for Duterte’s budget. Senator Joel Villanueva said that he disagrees with the House Committee on Appropriations’ treatment of the Vice President and OVP budget cut.
Senate Minority Leader Koko Pimentel, for his part, said that Duterte should be given “sufficient budget” for her office to function in accordance to its mandate.
It’s important to note that Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros expressed concerns about the duplication of Duterte’s programs with those of government agencies. The opposition senator said that she would seek a realignment of the funds.
However, Duterte does not expect the Senate to restore the budget cuts.
Since leaving President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s Cabinet as his first education secretary, Duterte has been in the spotlight due to congressional scrutiny over her budget utilization in recent years, as well as state auditors’ reports on her fund use at DepEd and a notice of disallowance concerning P73 million in OVP confidential funds in 2022. – Rappler.com
