Vice President Sara Duterte asked lawmakers to stop using unreliable witnesses against her in their bid to besmirch her reputation.
(From right) Vice President Sara Duterte and former DepEd undersecretary Sara Duterte (House of Representatives/Facebook)
In a recent statement, the official criticized the House good government committee’s use of former Department of Education (DepEd) undersecretary Gloria Mercado to look into alleged anomalous dealings in the agency when she was its secretary.
“Sa pagpapatuloy ng mga tangka na sirain ang pagkatao ko, nais ko sanang himukin ang ating mga mambabatas na itigil ang paggamit ng mga testigo na walang kredibilidad o di kaya ay kwestyonable ang layunin (In the continuous quest to ruin my character, I would like to urge our lawmakers to stop using witnesses with no credibility or have questionable motives),” she said.
The Vice President described Mercado’s role now as part of a “political machinery” against her.
She alleged that not only is the former DepEd official resentful about her relief from her post, but she was also guilty of soliciting P16 million from a private company using the DepEd’s name and insisting that a teaching personnel from Region 7 be given the Executive Assistant position at the DepEd Central Office.
Duterte is confident these can be proven since these allegations were documented and signed by Mercado.
The former DepEd undersecretary faced the House panel last Wednesday, Sept. 25, and alleged that Duterte, through another official, handed her envelopes of cash during her tenure presumably to influence her decision as head of procuring entity.
Mercado also said that she was asked to resign after she rejected a suggestion from former assistant secretary Reynold Munsayac that bidders “should just discuss among themselves” about the procurement for the agency’s computerization program.
But Duterte insisted that Mercado, who was in government service for 40 years, wasn’t only involved in alleged corrupt practices, but that DepEd personnel also found her hard to work with.
“Maliban sa hinaharap na kaso ng korapsyon, kilala din si Mercado sa kanyang ugaling paninira sa mga kasamahan sa trabaho, kabilang na ng kapwa matataas na opisyal ng DepEd (Aside from the corruption cases she’s facing, Mercado is also known for defaming her co-workers, including high-ranking officials of DepEd),” she said.
“Sa akin mismo ay sinubukan ni Mercado na siraan ang tatlong opisyal ng DepEd (Mercado even tried to malign three DepEd officials to me),” the Vice President added.
The House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability is currently looking into allegations that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and DepEd, during Duterte’s time there, misused public funds.