Ranking solon tells VP Sara: Face NBI hearing, other probes
At A Glance
- 1-Rider Party-list Rep. Rodge Gutierrez has reiterated the call for Vice President Sara Duterte to participate in the lawful processes connected to the cases filed against her.
1-Rider Party-list Rep. Rodge Gutierrez (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (MANILA BULLETIN, PPAB)
A member of the House "Young Guns" bloc has reiterated the call for Vice President Sara Duterte to participate in the lawful processes connected to the cases filed against her.
Assistant Minority Leader 1-Rider Party-list Rep. Rodge Gutierrez had this to say after the lady official skipped for the second time a National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) hearing on her alleged death threat against President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and Speaker Martin Romualdez.
Instead, Vice President Duterte's lawyer showed up at the NBI on her behalf.
“I think it’s unfortunate, although we respect the decision of the OVP. I think the opinion was that based on their lawyer’s advice, they can just file a counter affidavit. However, we were of the position that the Vice President should take every avenue to clear their name, to clear the office’s name, clear her name,” Gutierrez said in a press conference Wednesday, Dec. 11.
"We repeat po yung panawagan namin (We repeat our appeal) and we hope the she participates not only in the NBI, I understand marami na pong nasampang kaso (I understand that many have filed charges).
I hope she participates with the all the agencies as far as the rule of law is concerned po,” he added.
“So you can see very clearly where we stand. We’re here to afford her the opportunity to answer po the allegations even from other government bodies," Gutierrez, a lawyer, further said.
He noted that the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability even recently suspended one of its hearings so the Vice President could attend the NBI probe.
The good government panel--known as the House equivalent to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee--has been looking into the alleged misuse of P612.5-million confidential funds allocated to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) during Duterte’s tenure as agency secretary.