Vice President Sara Duterte said on Monday, Nov. 11, that the four Office of the Vice President (OVP) officials who were recently cited in contempt for skipping a House good government committee inquiry were busy attending to the thanksgiving activities in relation to the OVP’s 89th founding anniversary.
Vice President Sara Duterte holds a press conference at the satellite office of the Office of the Vice President in Bacolod City on Nov. 11, 2024. (Screenshot from OVP Facebook page)
Many of the OVP personnel have, in fact, been deployed to the satellite offices because of preparations for the event.
“Marami sa mga personnel galing sa central office nagpunta sa mga satellite offices dahil lahat ng satellite offices meron silang thanksgiving, iba’t-ibang activities ng thanksgiving (Many of the Central Office’s personnel went to the Satellite Offices because all Satellite Offices have their own thanksgiving. There are many thanksgiving activities),” she stated during a press briefing at the OVP Panay-Negros Island Satellite Office in Bacolod City.
The OVP will be celebrating its 89th founding anniversary on Friday, Nov. 15.
Duterte, however, reiterated that her office’s executives are free to do as they please with regards to the invitation for them to become resource speakers in the hearing that looks into the OVP’s alleged misused funds.
“Kung ano iyong gusto ng tao gawin susuportahan lang namin (Whatever they want to do, we will support them),” she said.
“Pag sinabi noong tao na mag-attend siya then bibigyan sila ng suporta kung ano man iyong hinihingi nila or nire-require nila na assistance (If they say they will attend, then they will be given support whatever they need or whatever assistance they require),” Duterte added.
The Vice President also denied that there was "malicious intent" behind OVP officials' coordinated trip which coincided with the date of House hearings.
"That is not true, walang malisya yan (there is no malicious on that)," she told the media.
On Monday, OVP officials namely Assistant Chief of Staff and Bids and Awards Committee Chair Lemuel Ortonio, Special Disbursing Officer (SDO) Gina Acosta, former Department of Education (DepEd) Assistant Secretary Sunshine Charry Fajarda, and SDO Edward Fajarda were cited in contempt for their repeated failure to appear before the House panel.
The four was said to have already ignored three invitations from the panel, as well as the subpoena ad testificandum five times.
The contempt order against the OVP officials also carries an order for detention at the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Quezon City.
Meanwhile, the Vice President also lamented that the House of Representatives’ Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability’s inquiry into the alleged misused public funds by the OVP is destroying the credibility and reputation of “ordinary employees” of the OVP.
“Sinisira lang nang sinisira iyong institusyon, ‘yung integrity ng, dignity ng institusyon ng Office of the Vice President and of course, iyong mga pangalan ng ordinary employees (They are destroying the institution, the integrity of the, the dignity of the institution of the Office of the Vice President and of course, the names of the ordinary employees),” she said.
“Duon masakit ang loob ko kasi mga ordinary employees lang ito sila . . . Nadadamay iyong mga tao na wala naman ginawa kundi magtrabaho lang sa Office of the Vice President (That’s what pains me the most because they are just ordinary employees . . . People who did nothing but work for the Office of the Vice President are being dragged),” she added.
Duterte, who once attended the inquiry and refused to take an oath as she lambasted lawmakers for what she called a politically motivated hearing, said she doesn’t mind attacks against her because she’s in politics.
“I mean, sa akin walang akong problema na sirain nyo ang pangalan ko. Kasi noong pumasok ako sa pulitika, expected naman talaga ‘yon...Sa pulitika siraan talaga ‘yon (for me I don’t have a problem if you destroy my name. Because when I entered politics, mudslinging is already expected),” she stressed.
OVP Chief of Staff Zuleika Lopez, who left the country for the United States for personal reasons, was issued another subpoena ad testificandum and was not included in the detention order list for humanitarian reasons.