'No feelings': Sara shrugs off Mindanao votes

MANILA --- Vice President Sara Duterte brushed off Mindanao lawmakers' votes in favor of her impeachment on Friday, February 7, saying she had never built "personal relationships" with them.

"Do I feel betrayed? I don't have any feelings about it. Wala naman kasi talaga akong barkada na politiko (I don't really have any politician friend groups)," Duterte said in a freewheeling press conference that was also her first public appearance since the House of Representatives impeached her.

The House of Representatives impeached Duterte on Wednesday, February 5, with 215 votes, accusing her of constitutional violations and corruption – claims her family has dismissed as “political persecution.” With 215 endorsements, the complaint secured well beyond the threshold needed to advance to a Senate trial.

The move makes Duterte, the president's former running-mate, the first vice president to be impeached, dialing up the increasingly heated feud between the Marcos and Duterte clans.

More than half of lawmakers from Mindanao (41 of 60) — her home region where she previously served as Davao City mayor — backed the complaint.

Duterte said her supposed lack of personal relationships with the lawmakers made their decision to vote for her impeachment easier.

"If we're talking about godfathers and godmothers of my children, none of my children have politicians as godparents, except for Stonefish, because Former President Erap Estrada is there. So, I don’t move in the circle of politicians," Duterte said in mixed English and Filipino.

"Friends, yes. But to say that I have a close relationship with them, none. Maybe that’s also why it was so easy for them to decide on the impeachment. Because there really isn’t anything worthwhile in our being friends," the vice president added.

Duterte's remarks about not having deep political ties come after decades of her family's dominance in Davao City politics where she succeeded her father as mayor in 2016 and where her brothers have held key positions.

While she remained largely tight-lipped about the impeachment complaint itself, Duterte questioned the lawmakers who publicly justified their votes.

"If you have to explain or defend your signature in a 'Yes' petition for impeachment, then you probably feel that you have done something wrong," she said. "Because if you didn't do anything wrong, why would you defend your signature?"

Rep. John Tracy Cagas (Davao del Sur) stood alone among 13 lawmakers from the Davao region in voting to impeach Duterte. Those who did not endorse the complaint were her brother Rep. Paolo Duterte (Davao City, 1st District), several longtime allies, and Rep. Margarita Nograles (PBA Partylist), whose family has long been political rivals with the Dutertes.

The impeachment complaint, which was also endorsed by the president's son, Rep. Sandro Marcos (Ilocos Norte, 1st District), includes seven articles ranging from alleged plots to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and other top officials, to misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds during Duterte's tenure as Department of Education secretary.