Former Office of the Vice President (OVP) spokesman and lawyer Barry Gutierrez raised legal and ethical questions in using public funds for the publication and distribution of Vice President Sara Duterte’s self-authored book, “Isang Kaibigan.”
Vice President Sara Duterte and her children's book (Inday Sara Duterte/Facebook)
In a statement on Thursday, Aug. 22, the former vice presidential spokesman cited that the plan to publish Duterte’s book using government funds might be prohibited under Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
“If you’re using government funds to publish a book you wrote, it straddles the boundary of what is prohibited under the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act 3019),” he said.
“There’s an undeniable personal benefit derived from this, which is explicitly prohibited under the law,” the former lawmaker added.
As ex-spokesman of former vice president Leni Robredo, Gutierrez recalled that a book was also published about her during her term, but “no OVP funds involved.”
“In fact, the book’s proceeds were used to support public initiatives during the Covid-19 pandemic, which is a complete opposite of what we are seeing now," he shared.
In 2021, publishing house Adarna published “Dancing Waters” by author Yvette Fernandez about the young Robredo.
According to reports, 50 percent of the proceeds of the sales of “Dancing Waters” went to the Robredo’s Community Learning Hubs, which helped learners access computers and resources during the Covid-19 pandemic.
An updated edition of the book has been released, with the same 50 percent of proceeds going to Angat Buhay, Robredo’s non-profit organization.
Meanwhile, Gutierrez also accused Duterte of using the Senate budget hearing on the OVP’s proposed 2025 budget to push the narrative that she’s a victim of political persecution.
The Vice President first claimed political persecution when her security detail was reduced, as well as when footage of her and her family leaving for Germany at the height of Super Typhoon Carina surfaced on social media.
“I’ve been on both sides of budget hearings, both in Congress and as part of the executive branch, and it’s standard for representatives of executive agencies to answer questions about their proposed budgets. That’s the entire purpose of these hearings,” Gutierrez said.
“It was surprising to see a simple question about what the ₱10 million was meant to fund being turned into an argument about political harassment.”
Duterte’s “Isang Kaibigan” was the subject of inquiry by opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros because of the P10-million allocation for its publication and distribution includes in the OVP’s proposed 2025 budget.
Duterte took offense to the nitpicking of her office’s budget, and said the issue was being politicized because of the election season.