Sara: 2022 presidency was mine already, but…

MANILA, Philippines —  As lawmakers blamed her “mistimed” ambitions for the presidency as the cause of her problems, Vice President Sara Duterte on Saturday said she could have been the president today had she not prioritized “other things.”

“First of all, the presidency of 2022 was mine already. I won the surveys, all the people were solidly united for my (presidential) candidacy, but I gave it away because I had to do some other things other than being president of the Republic of the Philippines,” Duterte told reporters in a chance interview at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC).

She was commenting on House Assistant Majority Leader Jay Khonghun’s remarks that she herself was responsible for the problems she is facing now.

During a press conference last week, Khonghun said the conflict between the two most powerful political families in the country was a result of Duterte’s ambitions to be president and her father former president Rodrigo Duterte’s insistence on putting her in the country’s highest office “this early.”

“All these chaos began when our Vice President aspired to be president too early, when her father aspired for her to be president immediately. Had there been no one who preemptively launched ambitions to be president, all would be quiet. We all know what caused everything happening now,” Khonghun added.

The Vice President scored lawmakers who were blaming her for the conflict, saying she was not the one who opened legislative inquiries to “politically persecute and harass” personnel of the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

“So, don’t they dare gaslight me into saying I’m the reason for all these chaos. These all started from their terrorism, harassment and threats against OVP personnel,” she said.

Asked about President Marcos’ plea to lawmakers to delay impeachment proceedings against her as it was “not important,” Duterte said she would no longer be commenting on statements by the President for a while.

Since 2023, lawmakers have been scrutinizing the OVP’s use of confidential funds, which has since triggered the soured relations between the Duterte and Marcos families.

The series of tense verbal exchanges between the two families led to the Vice President’s midyear resignation from the Cabinet as secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd).

After her resignation, Duterte has been speaking against the Marcos family, particularly against the President, First Lady Liza Marcos and Speaker Martin Romualdez – the subjects of her recent expletive-laden press conference that has since brought her under Investigation for grave threats and violating the anti-terrorism law.

Last week, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) issued a subpoena directing her to appear at its office last Friday to explain her side amid its investigation on grave threats and violations of the Anti-Terrorism Act over her remarks about having Marcos killed if she gets killed.

Despite the cancellation of the House of Representatives inquiry last Friday, the Vice President asked the agency to reschedule the meeting due to appointment conflicts, but said over the weekend that she was still uncertain whether her schedule would align with the NBI’s new date, Dec. 11.

“I’ll have to run my schedule day-by-day because it changes every day due to unforeseen circumstances, and I can’t plan ahead. So I can’t answer if I could appear on Dec. 11. And I’d need to wait for my lawyers’ instructions. Whatever they say, I will follow,” Duterte said, adding that the OVP would be dealing with yearend activities, including budget planning for next year.

Only herself to blame

For an administration lawmaker, Duterte has no one else to blame but herself for all her legal problems because of her vow to have Marcos killed that would logically make her take over the reins of government.

“Let’s make this very simple: when the President is killed, who will take over?” Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong asked, noting that Duterte – being the second highest elected official of the country – is the constitutional successor of the President, pursuant to the 1987 Constitution.

“It doesn’t take a scientist to make sense out of the grumblings Duterte has been making for the past week,” Adiong stressed, in reference to the Vice President’s Nov. 22 meltdown, where she unilaterally locked herself up inside House premises.

“A threat is a threat no matter what, even if it’s perceived to be conditional. The intent is there, the plan to kill the President was made in public. And she uttered ‘no joke’ not once, but twice. What can be clearer than that? Filipinos are not stupid,” Adiong pointed out.

As far as one of the leaders of the House’s “Young Guns” group is concerned, Duterte’s “problems started with herself” when she refused to leave the House premises when she visited her detained chief of staff, lawyer Zuleika Lopez.

Lopez, who was hospitalized, was released last Saturday evening after serving a 10-day contempt detention.

Duterte has been defying invitations from the House for her to explain the P612.5-million confidential funds in 2022 and 2023 of the OVP and DepEd, the latter of which  she headed from July 2022 until last July.

She specifically refused to attend hearings of the House committee on good government and public accountability, saying she has her hands full, but all of a sudden went to the House before midnight of Nov. 22 to visit Lopez, and insisted on spending the night there.

When members of the panel, headed by Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua, decided to transfer Lopez to the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong City, Duterte unleashed her ire, vowing to have the First Couple and the Speaker killed, according to Adiong.

Nevertheless, Adiong noticed that Marcos’ personality and that of Duterte’s are world’s apart, as the Chief Executive had shown “selflessness” in doing away with having the latter impeached for the kill threat, among many others.

Adiong said there was a “striking difference” between Marcos and Duterte’s “self-styled political drama.”

“The President is laser-focused on addressing the most pressing issues of the nation. There is a striking contrast between the character of the President, who is looking out for the welfare of the Filipino people and putting the interest of the country first, and the VP, who seems to evade accountability by threatening the security of the highest officials of government,” Adiong reiterated, even as Duterte has been taunting the government to impeach her, with repeated threats to Marcos, the First Lady and the Speaker. –  Delon Porcalla