VP Sara needs psychological assessment – lawmakers

MANILA, Philippines — The “disturbing and childish” temper and arrogance displayed by Vice President Sara Duterte during her two-hour press conference last week perhaps signal a need for her to undergo psychological tests, administration lawmakers suggested yesterday.

“For someone in such a high position to make violent and grotesque threats, even in jest, shows a troubling level of instability,” Zambales 1st District Rep. Jay Khonghun said, referring to Duterte’s remarks that she wanted to cut off President Marcos’ head as well as exhume and throw the remains of his father into the West Philippine Sea.

Such remarks, according to Khonghun, are “deeply alarming.”

“We cannot afford to have leaders who let their emotions spiral out of control in such a public and extreme manner,” he said.

“We urge the Office of the Vice President (OVP) to consider seeking professional help for Vice President Duterte, as this behavior is deeply concerning and could have serious consequences for our nation’s leadership,” La Union first district Rep. Paolo Ortega V said.

Ortega underscored the gravity of Duterte’s recent statements, emphasizing the need for responsible leadership amid such troubling behavior.

“The Filipino people deserve leaders who are mentally and emotionally stable, especially during challenging times,” Ortega maintained.

Both administration lawmakers belong to the Young Guns clique of young legislators in the House of Representatives.

Meanwhile, Tingog party-list Rep. Jude Acidre called on Duterte – a former Davao City mayor and education secretary – to “behave like an educated adult and stop acting like a child” by addressing the core issue on how she spent the confidential funds allotted to her office.

“It’s very disturbing to see the second highest official of the country resorting to petty threats, childish threats. Can she not make sense of the P125-million confidential funds that she must have enjoyed for spending it in just 11 days?” Acidre asked.

“I mean these are very serious issues that need to be explained well. Confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) – by whatever name you call it – are still public funds that are derived from money that every ordinary Filipino pays in the form of taxes. It’s hard-earned money for them,” he pointed out.

The chairman of the House committee on overseas workers affairs called on Duterte to give Filipino citizens the respect they truly deserve by addressing the issue on CIFs, even as the lawmaker claimed that Duterte “seems to fit the description of the classic case of a government official who is feeling entitled.”

“Stop the blame game, act maturely, explain where confidential funds went. Those who cannot win an argument intelligently resort to the use of their fists or violence. Her display of arrogance only shows what she thinks of our democratic institutions and norms. Her demeanor in the press conference, as usual, says it all. It’s very telling,” Acidre asserted.

“Our most respected VP should stop being childish. She only showed how selfish and self-centered she is. She could not even engage lawmakers in discussions about the CIFs and disallowed funds intelligently. And she’s supposed to be a lawyer – only one of unbecoming at that,” he added.

For the lawmaker, resorting to blame game will not solve the Vice President’s problem, most especially her declining ratings.

“As a leader, she should lead and set the example of how a good leader should be – by making transparent expenditures and disbursements made by her office,” Acidre said.

“What is ironic, according to her, is that Duterte is “not fighting for any cause that merits public welfare, but that she – for the longest time since last year – has been complaining because she didn’t get it her way, which is to get more unlimited confidential funds,” he added.

Chiz: President Marcos leading well

Senate President Francis Escudero disagreed with Duterte’s earlier statement that President Marcos does not know how to lead the country, noting the improvement of the state of the economy and the drop in inflation rate.

“As I said earlier, that’s her opinion; although I respect it, I don’t agree with it. The President is leading us well and you can see that in the way our economy is doing. Our inflation has gone down and our growth rate is good,” Escudero said in Filipino during an interview over dzBB radio.

Duterte strongly criticized Marcos during her two-hour press conference last Friday, but Escudero expressed belief that the criticism will not directly affect the Chief Executive.

Instead, the Senate president said the effect would be on the Vice President.

“In my opinion, Vice President Sara’s words may not affect (the President). If that has any effect, it would have an effect on the Office of the Vice President,” Escudero said.

He also criticized Duterte’s harsh words and statements against the Marcos family.

“The other words she uttered are a bit unbecoming of her as the second highest official of the country, including the beheading of the President, that’s a bit unbecoming of a very high official of our country. That’s why for me, it’s just a reminder to the Vice President in relation to uttering words like that, because it can’t be denied – she also exudes resentment or frustration,” Escudero noted.

“But for me, that’s still not a reason to utter those kinds of words, especially since many look up to, monitor and follow her,” he added.

Desecration of the dead

Duterte’s threat to exhume and dump Marcos Sr.’s remains in the West Philippine Sea constitutes a violation of the country’s laws, according to Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla.

“That’s desecration of the dead. There is a violation of that in the Revised Penal Code (RPC),” Remulla said in an interview.

Defamation to “blacken the memory of one who is dead” is criminalized under Article 353 of the RPC.

Remulla criticized Duterte for making such a statement, saying this does not reflect a “sane and clear thinking person.”

The justice secretary also mentioned Duterte’s comment of imagining beheading Marcos Jr.

Remulla expressed relief that Duterte did not run for president in the 2022 polls.

“I said it was good that she did not vie for the presidency in the 2022 elections because she might have won. We need to know what she’s made of,” Remulla said.

Last Friday, Duterte held a two-hour press conference following calls for Marcos, her running mate in the 2022 polls, to support the International Criminal Court’s investigation into the Vice President’s father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, and his so-called drug war in which thousands of drug suspects were killed by police.

The briefing, which the Vice President described as a “drag-me-to-hell” press conference, also came after revelations in a House hearing of alleged misuse of funds of the OVP and the Department of Education when Duterte headed the DepEd.

During the briefing, Duterte set the record straight on why she became Marcos’ running mate, how she felt about becoming the education secretary instead of defense chief and why she had decided to speak up. — Cecille Suerte Felipe, Daphne Galvez