Former president Rodrigo Duterte (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (Malacañang photo, Facebook)

By ELLSON QUISMORIO

Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua has called out the Duterte family for its apparent penchant for deflecting or diverting from serious issues hurled against them, instead of answering them head-on. 

Chua, in a statement Monday, July 15, pinpointed two recent statements of Vice President Sara Duterte as an example of such deflection. 

This, even as his father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, has been the central figure of multiple investigations in the House of Representatives in connection with his signature campaign, his bloody war on illegal drugs. 

“As past and present government officials, it is the duty of the Dutertes to accord the Filipino people the respect that they deserve and answer these serious allegations of connections to illegal drugs and the extrajudicial killings (EJKs),” Chua said. 

“Because what has happened so far is just political deflection. The recent controversial ‘designated survivor’ statement of Vice President Sara Duterte is a prime example of this. As the issue hangs over the heads of the Duterte family, instead of answering directly, they deflect the issue,” he noted. 

Chua was referring to the younger Duterte's remark last week wherein she said that she won't attend President Marcos' State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 22 since she has appointed herself the "designated survivor" of the event. The joke implied that something bad will happen to the participants of the SONA, which will be held at Batasang Pambansa Complex. 

Another previous statement of VP Duterte that was meant to deflect the allegations against her family is when she announced that her father, former president Duterte and her brothers, Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte and Davao 1st district Rep. Paolo Duterte will run for the Senate in 2025. 

“They are neglecting their duty to the people, and they are setting a very poor example to those in public service. What happened to integrity and honesty among government officials?” Chua said. 

The House Committee on Dangerous Drugs has recently ordered the arrest of former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang along with others named in the congressional inquiry into the P3.6 billion drug bust in Mexico, Pampanga last year. 

“Idinawit yung economic adviser mo sa drugs, tapos (Your economic adviser was implicated in drugs, and yet) you don’t confront the issue head-on? It defies human experience if they will continue to ignore the issue and pursue political deflection as a strategy,” Chua said. 

Dismissed Philippine National Police (PNP) Colonel Eduardo Acierto recently came forward in a House hearing to accuse the Duterte patriarch and his close allies Senators Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa and Christopher "Bong" Go of allegedly being "protectors" of illegal drugs in the country. 

The Manila solon also referred to the statements of self-confessed former member of the infamous Davao Death Squad Arturo Lascañas, who accused the former president of allegedly being a drug lord himself and staging a “fake” drug war where 27,000 Filipinos were killed. 

“It defies human experience why anyone would not want to answer serious allegations such as these. The right thing to do is deny it if it is not true. But instead of answering all allegations, they deflect and stir controversy somewhere else,” Chua said. 

Acierto had accused Yang, also implicated in the multi-billion Pharmally scandal, of being a suspected drug lord.