Senator Christopher “Bong” Go appealed to the country’s leaders to reconcile and set aside their differences as he expressed concern how the controversy surrounding the detention of one of Vice President Sara Duterte’s trusted staff has affected ordinary Filipinos.
Go made the call when interviewed on Saturday, November 23. In the evening, the senator flew from Davao City to Manila to visit the vice president at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) to show his support for the nation’s second top leader.
“I am appealing for reconciliation. Kaya ako, bilang isang senador, ako’y umaapela sa lahat na sana po matigil na ang lahat ng bangayan (That’s why as a senator, I’m appealing to all parties to stop wrangling),” Go said.
“I appeal for reconciliation among our leaders. Ang kailangan ng mga Pilipino ngayon ay hindi kontrobersya, hindi away pulitika. Ang kailangan nila ay maayos na serbisyo at malasakit sa kapwa Pilipino (What Filipinos need right now is not controversy, not political bickerings. What they need is better service and concern for fellow Filipinos),” he stated.
Go also reminded leaders of the House of Representatives that legislative inquiries should be in aid of legislation, not persecution, as he questioned the use of contempt powers to detain resource persons, citing in particular the case of Duterte's Chief of Staff, Atty. Zuleika Lopez.
“Nakikiusap po ako sa ating mga kapwa mambabatas sa House of Representatives na hinay-hinay lang sa pagpapatupad ng contempt citation at igalang po ang karapatan ng mga resource persons. Natatakot na po ang mga resource persons dahil puro naco-contempt na po sila. Imbes na maging productive ang resulta, ay hindi na po, dahil sa takot. Tandaan natin na ‘in aid of legislation’ naman po ito (I’m begging our fellow legislators in the House of Representatives to slow down in making contempt citations and respect the rights of resource persons. The resource persons are now afraid because they are being despised. Instead of being productive, the result is the opposite, because of fear. Let's remember that this is supposed to be 'in aid of legislation')," said Go.
“Hindi dapat ito naaabuso. Bilang isang mambabatas at mamamayang Pilipino, nakikiusap po ako (This should not be abused. As a lawmaker and as a Filipino, I am appealing to): Please stop the harassment. Please be reminded that this should be in aid of legislation, not persecution!” he stressed.
Earlier, House lawmakers ordered Lopez to be detained at the lower chamber after she was cited in contempt for her alleged “undue interference” in the ongoing probe on the disbursement of confidential funds by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) that was then under Duterte.
House lawmakers involved in the congressional probe have raised questions related to the Commission on Audit’s (COA) findings on the OVP’s use of confidential funds in 2022 and 2023, which they found were accompanied by inconsistent acknowledgement receipts, including documents with wrong dates and unreadable names of signatories.