‘No joke’

Filipinos woke up yesterday to yet another drama that unfolded in this nation of 120 million.

Past witching hour at the House of Representatives early Saturday, tensions flared up as Sara Duterte’s chief of staff, Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez, fell seriously ill after the House of Representatives ordered her transfer to the Women’s Correctional Facility.

She was initially rushed to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City but was later moved to St. Luke’s Medical Center with her boss, the defiant VP Sara, caught in a confrontation with the police to make sure that her aide would be transferred to St. Luke’s rather than to the correctional facility.

She was seen shouting at policemen, a grim reminder of the 2011 incident when she punched a court sheriff in Davao.

Earlier on Friday evening, VP Sara wanted to spend the night with Lopez at the House detention facility but was not allowed to. She then decided to spend the night in the office of her brother, Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte.

Lopez was cited in contempt for requesting the Commission on Audit to ignore a subpoena from the House directing it to submit its audit reports on the use of confidential funds in 2022 and 2023.

Once again, we have become unwitting witnesses to VP Sara’s bloated sense of entitlement, perhaps a result of being used to always getting her way in Davao.

But wait, there’s more.

As if all this drama weren’t enough, VP Sara, in a press briefing via Zoom on Friday night, also unleashed an utterly disturbing revelation.

She had instructed someone, she said, to assassinate President Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos, and Speaker Martin Romualdez in case she were killed.

“No joke. No joke,” she said, unbothered.

Wow. What a revelation.

I hope our elected officials remember that, as human rights activist Francis Baraan IV said, we are supposedly a nation of laws, not a society ruled by barbarians, brutes and brats.

I find these threats disturbing, and I’m sure that peace-loving and freedom-loving Filipinos share the same view.

After all, this comes from a former education secretary, supposedly in charge – at least once upon a time – of making sure that the Filipino youth receive the education they deserve.

More importantly, this comes from the vice president, the second-highest official of the land and one who is always just one foot away from the presidency in the event that the president is unable to perform.

Authorities must take proper action against VP Sara for making such threats.

It is scary to imagine what this country would be if she becomes president. Her father, just days ago, remarked nonchalantly and unapologetically that he had ordered the killings of criminals. He himself has lost count of how many he has killed.

With her latest outburst, Sara has just dug herself deeper into her own grave. Maybe she just wants to be impeached so she can get the sympathy of people and help her secure the presidency in 2028.

But one way to get out of the mess is to just explain the puzzling use of her confidential funds, including the supposed recipients – Mary Grace, Piattos, Nova, Oishi and Tempura.

These names supposedly appeared in acknowledgment receipts and documents for confidential funds under the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education.

The problem, however, is that the VP thinks she is exempt from scrutiny. Perhaps, she didn’t expect things to turn out this way, especially after she helped deliver the presidency to the Marcoses on a silver platter when she decided not to run against now president Bongbong Marcos Jr.

What a mess this UniTeam has become.

At the end of the day, it’s all about taxpayers’ money – more than a hundred million in confidential funds – and Filipinos, as usual, are at the losing end.

Consumer group against NAIA

Last week, a consumer group, Consumers Union-Philippines filed a petition before a Manila court seeking to stop the higher rates and charges to be slapped by the San Miguel-led New NAIA Infra Corp. (NNIC) as part of its concession agreement with the government.

NNIC is the new operator of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The group said the fees are “unjust and unreasonable” for consumers. They were referring to the airport consortium’s plan to increase passenger service charges to P350 from P200 for domestic travelers and to P950 from P550 for international travelers.

The increase is inevitable and I’m sure that whoever would be in charge of the airport now would eventually have to raise rates because of rising operating costs such as power and labor as well as higher inflation.

Actually, NAIA is not alone in raising fees.

Changi Airport in Singapore will also raise fees over the next six years, to finance a new $3-billion improvement.

Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport likewise announced a 37-percent increase in airport fees that will gradually come into force over the next three years. (Singapore Straits Times).

The NAIA rates, even at P950 or $22 SGD will still be lower compared to other airports such as Hong Kong International Airport which charges $59 SGD and Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok which charges $30 SGD, the Singapore Straits Times also reported.

Changi, which is really a stunning, impressive and efficient airport, charges $65.20 at present, and this will eventually increase to $79.20.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter @eyesgonzales. Column archives at EyesWideOpen (Iris Gonzales) on Facebook.