Sara may have committed poll offense – lawmaker

MANILA, Philippines —  Vice President Sara Duterte may have committed an election offense, which is a ground for impeachment, if allegations are true that she received campaign donations from Chinese nationals linked to Pharmally, Manila Rep. Joel Chua said yesterday.

“If it is proven that foreigners donated to her campaign, it is a clear issue of culpable violation of the Constitution,” Chua said in a statement.

Chua, chairman of the House committee on good government and public accountability and a member of the House committee on justice, which is hearing the impeachment case against Duterte, said Section 81 of the Omnibus Election Code prohibits foreign nationals from contributing to a candidate’s campaign expenditures.

“What I see is possible election offense because there is a contribution that transpired. We need to know who are the Chinese citizens involved. If they are foreign nationals and not Filipinos, it is a clear violation of the election code,” Chua said.

Duterte’s alleged bagman, Ramil Madriaga, claimed in his supplemental affidavit having received millions of pesos from Pharmally financial officer Lin Weixiong and businessmen Maestrado Lim — also known as Tony Yang — and his brother Michael Yang, supposedly for Duterte’s campaign in the 2022 elections.

Chua recalled that Lim and Yang were known associates of former president Rodrigo Duterte, with Yang even having served as his economic adviser. They are also among the individuals linked to the illegal operations of Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO).

Madriaga said the funds were used by the Initiative for Social Justice, Innovation, and Progress Pilipinas (ISIP), a non-profit organization he formed whose acronym, he said, originally stood for “Inday Sara is my President.”

Rep. Terry Ridon said the justice committee chaired by Rep. Gerville Luistro has already established the quantum of evidence required to recommend Duterte’s impeachment.

“I think we have already achieved the probable cause, and this is based on the confidential funds misuse,” said Ridon who also chairs the House public accounts committee. He was referring to the Commission on Audit’s final order for Duterte to return the “disallowed” P73 million issued to the Office of the Vice President.

In an interview with “Storycon” on One News yesterday, former COA commissioner Heidi Mendoza said it is clear that that there is irregularity in the use of confidential funds by the Office of the Vice President.

While Duterte may still appeal the notice of disallowance before the Supreme Court, Mendoza stressed that the matter of validity of an expenditure is the sole jurisdiction of COA.

“What will be discussed in the Supreme Court, if there will be an appeal, is whether there is what we call abuse of discretion.”

After snubbing last Tuesday’s “clarificatory hearing” on her impeachment case, Vice President Duterte is being urged by Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante to show up at the next hearing instead of just issuing media statements.

Abante, chairman of the House committee on human rights, issued the call as the Vice President has shown no intention of attending the next hearing on April 22, and is “resorting only to media statements.”

“She can give her explanations to the House committee on justice. She should not be engaging in pure propaganda,” Abante said.

Paolo Panelo, a counsel for Duterte, said in an ANC interview there is no point in her attending the next hearing because even members of the justice panel were not allowed to ask probing questions.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Ombudsman has ordered Assistant Special Prosecutor Ryan Quilala to explain his side after he was mentioned by Madriaga at last Tuesday’s hearing on Duterte’s impeachment. “- Janvic Mateo, Daphne Galvez, Bella Cariaso