The Office of the Vice President (OVP) on Thursday, Dec. 5, expressed gratitude to Senator Imee Marcos and other personalities for the support they had given amid the “crisis” that the office faced recently.
(From left) Vice President Sara Duterte and Senator Imee Marcos (MB file photos)
In particular, the statement made mention of how Marcos secured an order from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) for OVP Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez’s Vice President Sara Duterte’s chief of staff, welfare.
“At kay Senador Imee Marcos na tiniyak na mayroong DILG order para payagan si VP Sara Duterte at Senador Bato Dela Rosa na magbantay ng pasyente sa VMMC (And to Senator Imee Marcos for ensuring a DILG order to allow VP Sara Duterte and Senator Bato Dela Rosa to look after a patient in the VMMC),” the statement read.
Lopez was confined at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center shortly after she was detained by the House committee on good government and threatened to be transferred to the Women’s Correctional Facility in Mandaluyong City last month.
The OVP likewise thanked Senator Bong Go for supporting the Vice President.
“Nagpapasalamat ang Tanggapan ng Pangalawang Pangulo sa lahat ng mga tumulong, sumuporta, at nagpaabot ng pakikiisa at pagdamay sa opisina nang humarap ito sa krisis at kagipitan kamakailan (The OVP extends its gratitude to everyone who helped, supported, and expressed their solidarity with the office when it faced crisis and adversity recently),” the statement said.
However, the statement decried the “violence” and “injustice” against OVP executives amid the present congressional inquiry into its use of confidential funds.
“Maraming salamat din sa media sa tuloy-tuloy na pagsisiwalat sa kalagayan ng bansa — sa pagbabantay laban sa kawalan ng hustisya, pandarahas at pag-uulat sa sinapit ng mga tauhan ng OVP at sa walang takot na malayang pamamahayag (Thank you very much to the media for continuously exposing the state of the country—for guarding against injustice, violence, and reporting about what happened to the OVP staff and for the fearless reporting),” Duterte’s office added.
It also thanked the lawyers who had to be alert 24 hours to monitor and help the OVP’s employees, some of whom have been called to the inquiry.
The statement, however, made no mention of the impeachment complaints lodged against Duterte before the House of Representatives.
The Vice President earlier dared lawmakers and her critics to file an impeachment complaint against her.
“They can always try to do an impeachment. They can go ahead and squander government money to have the Vice President impeached, if that’s what they want, just to cover up the shortcomings and lies of the administration and its unfulfilled promises,” she said during a media briefing last month.
Two impeachment complaints—one endorsed by Akbayan Party-list Rep. Perci Cendaña and another by Makabayan bloc Reps. France Castro, Arlene Brosas, and Raoul Manuel—have been filed against Duterte.
The first impeachment complaint cited culpable violation of the constitution, graft and corruption, bribery, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes as grounds for impeachment.
The second complaint, on the other hand, centers on three allegations, which include the "abuse, misuse, and wastage" of confidential funds; systematic cover-up of such actions through fabricated accomplishment reports, receipts, and documents submitted to the Commission on Audit (COA); and deliberate obstruction of congressional investigation and oversight.