Vice President Sara Duterte (left), Manila 2nd district Rep. Rolando Valeriano (Facebook)

The 2028 presidential race is still four years away, but this early, Manila 2nd district Rep. Rolando Valeriano is warning Filipinos against voting for "presidential aspirant", Vice President Sara Duterte. 

In a scathing privilege speech on Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 3, Valeriano castigated Vice President Duterte--whom he simply referred to as the "Vice President"--for her confrontational behavior and refusal to cooperate with congressmen during the Office of the Vice President's (OVP) budget hearing last Aug. 27. 

"Nais ko lang ipaalala sa mga botante sa Maynila at sa buong bansa, hindi nararapat sa atin, lalo na't siya'y nag-aambisyon na maging Pangulo, ang ayaw magsabi kung saan ginastos ang pondo ng bayan," Valeriano said, obviously referring to the second highest-ranked official of the land. 

(I want to remind voters in Manila and in the entire country, we don't deserve someone who refuses to say where public funds were spent, especially since she has an ambition to become president.) 

The Manila solon was alluding to the Vice President's response, or lack thereof, to House members' questions on the OVP's spending of P125 million in confidential funds in a span of just 11 days in December 2022. 

Like a broken record, the lady official repeatedly said ""I will forego the defense of the OVP 2025 budget proposal, and we leave it to the House of Representatives to decide on the proposal" as a response to the congressmen.  

"Maling akala ni VP na siya'y na hindi maaaring salungatin ng kahit sino. Iyan ang nasaksihan natin sa budget hearing ng [OVP ]...Maling akala rin ni VP na wala tayong karapatan magtanong ng anumang bagay tungkol sa budget ng kanyang opisina," Valeriano said.

(It's wrong for VP to think that she cannot be disputed by anyone. That's what we witnessed during the OVP budget hearing...It's also wrong for VP to think that we don't have any right to ask anything about her office's budget.)

In the same speech, Valeriano wondered out loud who the Vice President's "true boss' was. 

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"Sino ba talaga ang boss at pinaglilingkuran niya? Baka naman ang boss niya ay humaharang sa bangka ng mga Pilipinong mangingisda o ang mga promotor ng POGO," he said. 

(Who is she truly serving? Maybe her boss is the one that blocks the boats of Filipino fishermen or the promoter of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators.) 

"Ganyan ba ang asal ng ating Bise Presidente at nag-aambisyong maging presidente? We deserve better," added Valeriano. 

(Is that the demeanor of our Vice President who has an ambition to become president? We deserve better.) 

Vice President Duterte--daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte--hasn't mentioned anything about her future political plans.
 

An advance copy of Valeriano's privilege speech was sent to House reporters. The actual speech delivered in plenary Tuesday omitted a lot of disparaging comments against Vice President Duterte, including the mention of her name.