Vice President Sara Duterte on late Sunday night, Nov. 24, called on Filipinos to demand accountability and “genuine public service” from the government.
Vice President Sara Duterte (OVP photo)
Speaking during a livestream on Facebook, wherein she also thanked her supporters for protecting Office of the Vice President (OVP) Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez, her chief-of-staff, and other OVP personnel, the official reminded the public of their right to gather and express themselves.
“Gusto ko lang paalala sa ating mga kababayan na ayaw natin ng kaguluhan, na tayo ay may karapatan sa peaceful assembly at tayo ay may karapatan na magsalita kung ano ‘yung nararamdaman natin at gusto nating makita mula sa ating gobyerno (I’d just like to demand my fellowmen that we do not like violence, that we have a right to peaceful assembly and we have the right to express our misgivings and what we want to see from the government),” she said.
“Kaya mga kababayan, paniguraduhin nyo na hinihingi ninyo sa gobyerno kung ano iyong karapat-dapat para sa ating lahat. Hindi lang karapat-dapat para sa mga pulitiko at mayayaman (That’s why to my fellowmen, make sure you are demanding what are rightfully ours from the government. Not only what’s right for the politicians and the rich),” Duterte added.
The Vice President made this call after former presidential spokesperson and lawyer Harry Roque called on Filipinos to troop to Edsa as a show of force against the Marcos administration.
Roque himself has been in hiding as he’s the subject of the House quad committee inquiry into his links to the alleged illegal activities of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in the country.
Duterte, whose father called rallyists “communists” and shut down a television station and filed cases against an online news site, said that Filipinos’ right to peaceful assembly is enshrined under their rights to freedom of speech.
“Ang gusto natin makita ay (We want to see) genuine public service,” she added.
The official earlier held a pre-dawn Zoom press conference wherein she threatened to have the First Couple and House Speaker Martin Romualdez assassinated if she herself gets killed.
This prompted some critics to hint at her mental instability. Some also said that she should seek professional help.
But Duterte stressed that she is amenable to take a neuro psychiatric test and a drug test, provided that everyone in the Office of the President, OVP, the House of Representatives, Senate, and government agencies take the same tests in front of the public.
“Wala na kayong mapuna sa akin. Pinagtatakpan ninyo ang mga kakulangan ng pamahalaan (You have nothing else to throw at me. You are covering up the shortcomings of the government),” she said.
“Ako ang ginagawa ninyo punching bag para hindi napapansin, nakikita, naririnig, ng mga tao ang kalokohan, korapsyon, at ang katiwalian na ginagawa sa gobyerno (You are turning me into a punching bag to cover up what the people see and hear about corruption and anomalies happening in government),” she added.
The Vice President has been staying at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) since Lopez, her aide, was brought there after falling ill and collapsing when the House good government committee ordered her transfer from the House detention facility to the Women’s Correctional Facility in Mandaluyong City.
This was after Duterte camped at her brother’s office at the Batasang Pambansa complex to be close to Lopez, who was detained on Nov. 21 for “due interference” when she admitted to the House committee that she asked the Commission on Audit (COA) not to heed the panel’s subpoena for the OVP’s audit reports on its confidential funds use.
Duterte’s supporters have camped outside the Veterans hospital, while Senators Bato Dela Rosa, Bong Go, Imee Marcos, Sagip Partylist Rep. Rodante Marcoleta, and other Duterte allies also visited Lopez.