Vice President Sara Duterte receives the invite from the Good Government panel (Quad-comm media)

The Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability took advantage of Vice President Sara Duterte's surprise presence as a spectator Wednesday, Nov. 13 at the quad-committee (quad-comm) hearing of the House of Representatives.

The committee secretary of the good government panel personally handed to Vice President Duterte an invitation for her to attend its next hearing on Nov. 20.

Vice President Duterte officially received the one-page document by signing it.

The lady official was part of the audience of the marathon quad-comm hearing that featured her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, as a resource person. 

Out of 11 hearings since August, Wednesday was the first time that the elder Duterte appeared before the quad-comm. The mega-panel is looking into his administration’s bloody war on drugs.

On the other hand, the good government panel is investigating the alleged misuse of confidential funds under the Vice President's watch. This covers both the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd).

Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua, chairman of the good government committee, signed the invitation for the Vice President. 

"The Committee requests your attendance on November 20, 2024 at 10:00 A.M. in the People's Center at the House of Representatives, Quezon City. Your presence is necessary to provide clarifications on the [OVP]'s budget utilization from your assumption of office in 2022 up to present, including questions on the projects/programs andior beneficiaries of said projects/programs of your honorable office, regular and confidential funds, and other related matters," read the invite.

Wednesday's quad-comm hearing was also held at the People's Center.

Out of the five hearings of the Chua panel so far, the Vice President has only attended the first hearing, wherein she refused to take her oath.

House Deputy Minority leader ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro couldn't help but chide Vice President Duterte for surfacing at the quad-comm hearing, but not at the good government panel where her answers are needed.

"Ang tagal na siyang pinapatawag ng good governement committee pero di siya sumisipot at dumadalo ng hearing, tapos ngayon bigla siyang lilitaw dito," Castro said.

(The good government committee has been summoning her for a while now but she hasn't been appearing in the hearings, and now she surfaces here.)

"Gusto din ba niyang maging resource person sa nangyaring EJKs (extrajudicial killings) sa Davao City nung siya ang mayor at kung paano ginamit ang napakalaking confidential funds niya dun?" the Makabayan solon asked, sarcastically.

(Does she also want to be a resource person on the EJKs that took place in Davao City when she was the mayor and how she used her huge confidential funds there?)