Sara: Hontiveros, Castro, Trillanes under one ‘handler’

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte has claimed Sen. Risa Hontiveros, ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro and former senator Antonio Trillanes IV have one political handler in orchestrating attacks against her, including her alleged impending impeachment.

In a presss conference at the Office of the Vice President (OVP) central office in Mandaluyong City on Wednesday, Duterte said she is not surprised with the barrage of attacks against her by several lawmakers, saying that these attacks are just a precursor for the grand plan to impeach her.

“Since last year, they already had their grounds for impeachment. They are just waiting to have all the pieces they need to back the grounds they have identified… One track is impeachment, one track is [to call for] my resignation,” Duterte said.

Duterte singled out Castro as the one who supposedly triggered the impeachment plot against her, though the lawmaker was just acting for someone – a “handler.”

Duterte added that Hontiveros and Trillanes are also under that same political handler, who is supposedly hell-bent on ousting her. Pressed by reporters for the name of the supposed “handler,” Duterte said she will disclose it “in proper time.”

“Who is behind them? I know, but I cannot divulge yet. At the proper time, I will disclose everything. Someone will mention the name soon in the hearing, and then I will identify that person. There is only one handler of Risa Hontiveros, Sonny Trillanes, and France Castro,” she said.

Duterte added that Castro is probably “serving two masters” though she is “working directly” with the supposed handler. Castro has been a vocal critic of Duterte especially in connection with the issue of the latter’s spending of her confidential funds under the OVP.

In a statement, Castro said Duterte has become “delusional” and was just trying to divert the public’s attention over the issue of her allegedly anomalous confindential fund spending.

“Has VP Duterte now gone delusional for saying that there is one person handling Sen. Risa Hontiveros, ex-senator Sonny Trillanes and myself, with an alleged impeachment plot against her?” Castro said.

“This is of course not true and yet another squid tactic by VP Duterte to avoid explaining her reckless spending of public funds and her absenteeism in her own office’s budget deliberations,” she added.

VP: Stop using witnesses with no credibility

The Vice President told lawmakers to stop using “witnesses with no credibility or with questionable motive,” citing former Department of Education (DepEd) undersecretary Gloria Mercado, whom she fired over alleged illegal solicitation and other unlawful acts.

“As the attempts to destroy my reputation continue, I would like to urge our lawmakers to stop using witnesses with no credibility or with questionable motive,” Duterte said on Thursday.

“One example is Gloria Mercado who was relieved from her post as undersecretary of the Department of Education and is now part of the political machinery against me. The Congress wants the Filipino people to believe Mercado and forget that she already admitted that she is disgruntled for being relieved from her post,” she added.

Duterte, a former education secretary, said DepEd had to let go of Mercado for supposedly soliciting P16 million from a private company, creating a teaching position and assigning a person to become her executive assistant, and allegedly badmouthing fellow DepEd officials.

Mercado on Wednesday testified before the House committee on good government and public accountability, chaired by Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua, that she was forced to retire in October 2023 for adhering to strict procurement rules.

Senate may hike OVP budget

Duterte found an ally in the Senate, where senators are expected to increase her P733 million budget next year after it was slashed in the House of Representatives by more than half.

This means the differing approved 2025 budget of the Office of the Vice President will be settled by both Houses of Congress during the bicameral conference committee.

“Several colleagues have said that they want to increase the budget allocation. The appetite of the senators is to slightly increase the OVP budget,” Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said during the Kapihan sa Senado forum yesterday.

But Zubiri said this does not mean the Senate would restore the OVP’s proposed P2-billion budget.

For her part, Senate finance committee chair Grace Poe said the ball is in the Senate’s court after Congress approved the proposed 2025 budget of P6.352 trillion.

Davao had biggest confidential funds

Meanwhile, Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville Luistro disclosed on Wednesday that Vice President Duterte apparently had the propensity for using hundreds of millions in confidential funds after records showed Davao City had the highest amount for all major cities in 2022.

During the quad committee hearing, Luistro showed a power point presentation that stated Davao City had a whopping P460 million in confidential funds – compared to Makati’s P240 million, Manila’s P120 million, Quezon City’s P75 million and Cebu’s P7.3 million.

Davao City started with P144 million in confidential funds for six months in 2016, then substantially rose to P294 million in 2017, P420 million in 2018 and a straight P460 million allocation for the next four years – from 2019 to 2022 – all under Sara’s term.

Camarines Sur Rep. Gabriel Bordado urged Duterte to be “more transparent” and judicious in her office’s expenditures.

“Why… should the OVP be allocated such enormous sums when other agencies are better equipped to deliver these services?” he said in a speech. – Delon Porcalla, Marc Jayson Cayabyab