Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday, Aug. 20, bared lawmakers in the House of Representatives are openly discussing plans to impeach her because they want to take down the Duterte family.
In a media interview after the Senate budget deliberations on the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP), where the official clashed with Senator Risa Hontiveros regarding her self-authored book “Isang Kaibigan,” Duterte said she is well-aware of the lower chamber’s plan to oust her.
“Pinag-uusapan nila. Kahit na i-deny nila, pinag-uusapan ng members of the House of Representatives kasi meron pa namang kami kaibigan doon sa loob na hindi lang nagsasalita kasi ‘takot’ daw sila (They are talking about it. Even if they deny it, the members of the House of Representatives are talking about it since we still have friends there who don’t talk because they are scared),” she claimed.
“Sinasabi nila it is openly discussed ‘yung impeachment (They’re saying the impeachment is being openly discussed),” she added.
While she did not have knowledge of the progress of the impeachment case, the Vice President said they were expecting for it to happen and they are waiting for the next move.
“Kasi ano ba gusto nilang gawin? Gusto nilang pabagsakin ang pamilya Duterte sa pulitika (Because what do they want to do? They want to bring the Duterte family down),” she said, adding that the attacks became personal because they also harassed her husband.
The official was referring to a slew of issues thrown at her family—a quad-committee investigation into her brother, Davao City 1st district Rep. Paolo Duterte and husband, lawyer Mans Carpio, the reportedly pending arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for former president Rodrigo Duterte, and a supposed plan to impeach her.
“Kahit matanggal nila ako as vice president, hahabulin nila ako until the day na maupo sila sa 2028 (Even if they removed me as vice president, they will run after me until 2028),” Duterte stressed.
The official, who was one-half of the 2022 UniTeam tandem with President Marcos, said she has no problems severing ties politically because politics is unpredictable.
“Ang hindi ko nagugustuhan ay iyong pambabastos. Pwede naman tayo maghiwalay sa pulitika, wag lang iyong maging bastos (What I’m not liking is the rudeness. We can be divided politically but let’s not be rude),” she said.
The Vice President resigned from Marcos’ Cabinet in July, leaving her post as secretary of Department of Education (DepEd).
While she did not say it, this was also seen as an official end to the UniTeam, with Duterte just recently criticizing the Marcos administration’s shortcomings.