Vice President Sara Duterte (Noel Pabalate/ MANILA BULLETIN)

Two ranking congressmen are prodding Vice President Sara Duterte to convince her husband, lawyer Manases "Mans" Carpio,; and brother, Davao City 1st district Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte, to come out and tell the truth regarding witness Jimmy Guban's "grave allegations". 

Deputy Majority Leader Jude Acidre and Assistant Majority Leader Jil Bongalon gave this piece of advice to Vice President Duterte in a joint statement on Monday afternoon, Aug. 19. 

"VP Sara is better off convincing her husband Mans and her brother Pulong to join the House quad-committee investigation. This will benefit her beleaguered family and the Filipino people, who, like us, want answers," said Acidre. 

"We assure VP Sara that Atty. Mans and Cong. Pulong will be given the courtesies and respect due to them, given their stature. Walang halong pulitika ito. Pawang katotohanan lang ang pakay ng quad-comm," Acidre stressed. 

(There are no politics here, the quad-comm is only after the truth.) 

During its hearing last Friday, Aug. 16, the House quad-comm or quad-committee heard the testimony from former Bureau of Customs (BOC) intelligence officer Guban, who implicated former President Rodrigo Duterte's son "Pulong,” his son-in-law “Mans,” and his former economic adviser Michael Yang in the smuggling of billions worth of shabu hidden in magnetic lifters at the Manila International Container Port in 2018.  

"These are grave allegations. The adage, 'Don't be afraid if you having nothing to hide,' applies here,” noted Acidre. 
 

'Pinoys not born yesterday'

Meanwhile, Bongalon poked holes into Vice President Duterte's retort that the timing of these "political attacks" or "political harassment" against her family was questionable. 

"If she stands by that remark, then the same can be said about her. She began to assail the Marcos administration about supposedly longstanding problems in governance, but she only did it recently with the 2025 mid-term elections fast approaching. VP was quiet about all of these in her two years with the Marcos Cabinet," Bongalon noted. 

"That, to me, is also suspect timing. It would go as far as to say that it is opportunistic. The bottom line is that her family members have a lot of explaining to do. They should stop insulting Filipinos by treating them like they were born yesterday," said Bongalon. 

Vice President Duterte vacated her post as Department of Education (DepEd) secretary last July 19. 

The quad-comm is composed of the House Committees on Dangerous Drugs, on Public Order and Safety, on Human Rights, and on Public Accounts. 
 

Quad-comm dismisses 'political harassment' claim

In a separate statement, the leaders of this special four-way panel flatly rejected Vice President's claim of political harassment in connection with the drug smuggling allegations against members of her family.

Abang Lingkod Party-list Rep. Joseph Stephen “Caraps” Paduano, Santa Rosa City lone district Rep. Dan Fernandez, Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, Manila 6th district Rep. Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr., and Antipolo 2nd district Rep. Romeo Acop maintained the integrity of their investigation. 

“If the Dutertes have nothing to hide, they have nothing to fear from our investigation. Our investigation is thorough and impartial. We follow the facts wherever they lead, and we won’t allow any distractions to derail our efforts,” said Paduano, chairman of the public accounts panel. 

“We won’t be deterred by claims of harassment,” Abante, chairman of the human rights panel, said. “Our responsibility is to the Filipino people. We will continue our work without fear or favor, ensuring that the law is applied equally to all.” 

“Political harassment has no place here; we are just doing our job,” added Barbers, chairman of the dangerous drugs panel and the designated overall chairman of the quad-committee. 

For Fernandez, the quad-comm is merely "following the evidence”. The public order panel boss says the probe is "not about targeting anyone".