The year 2024 was fraught with controversies, scandals, and challenges for Vice President Sara Duterte, culminating with three impeachment complaints filed against her at the House of Representatives, which also launched its own investigation into her offices’ alleged misuse of confidential and intelligence funds.

Vice President Sara Duterte attends the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability hearing on the Department of Education’s (DepEd) and Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) budget utilization on Nov. 25, 2024. (Santi San Juan/MANILA BULLETIN)

A third impeachment complaint was filed against the official on Dec. 19, adding to two other impeachment cases that cited culpable violation of the constitution, graft and corruption, bribery, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes as grounds for impeachment.

“I welcome that finally na-file na ‘yung impeachment case na sinasabi nilang i-file nila since last year pa (they finally filed the impeachment case they said they would file as early as last year),” Duterte said in an interview with GMA Regional News last Dec. 9.

She breathed a sigh of relief, too, because the impeachment case would only be targeting her, sparing her staff at the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd).

“So, okay din yun impeachment case dahil ako lang ang tinitira nila, ako lang ang iniimbestigahan nila, ako lang ang inaatake ng impeachment (So, the impeachment case is better because I’ll be the only one they’re attacking, I’m the only one they’re investigating, the impeachment will attack only me),” she added.

But while she plans to personally address these complaints, Duterte said when asked about the possibility of the cases’ success that her political enemies “can always try, but God's plan will always prevail.”

The impeachment complaints were born from months-long congressional probes, which she repeatedly skipped, into the OVP’s and DepEd’s use of hundreds of millions worth of confidential funds in 2023.

OVP fund recipients

Allegations of misuse were fueled by seemingly fabricated documents signed by questionable personalities, such as a “Mary Grace Piattos,” “Fernando Tempura,” “Reymunda Jane Nova,” and “Carlos Miguel Oishi”—purportedly named after popular Filipino snack brand and a local restaurant.

She repeatedly refused to explain such anomalies, insisting that the spirit of confidentiality would be lost if she talks about the disbursement papers.

But the congressional inquiry, led by the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, sent several of Duterte’s employees—including her chief-of-staff, OVP Undersecretary Zuleika Lopez—to the hospital, which angered the Vice President to the point of threatening President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and Speaker Martin Romualdez.

President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte (Photo from Inday Sara Duterte/ Facebook)

She was also vocal about the impossibility of patching things up with the Marcos family, specifically the President, her running mate during the 2022 national elections.

“Well, I believe we reached the point of no return. I really believe that we really reached the point of no return. It is clear parang (like) they are going after me. At gusto nila akong tanggalin sa posisyon (And they want to remove me from my position),” Duterte said in a press conference last month.

Budget cut

Duterte will also not get her proposed P2.037-billion budget for 2025, and will instead have only P733 million for next year after she skipped House panel hearings and the plenary debates into the OVP’s proposed funding, as well as alleging that only Romualdez and House appropriations committee chair Elizaldy Co have control of the nation’s coffers.

Although she remained resolute that her office can work with even a one peso-budget, she also urged the public to make her political enemies accountable if the OVP can no longer extend assistance to them.

“Handa kami. Handa kami, handa ako, sa Office of the Vice President na magtrabaho kahit walang budget (We are ready. We are ready, I am ready, at the Office of the Vice President to work even without a budget),” she stressed.

“Maliit lang 'yung opisina namin. Maliit lang 'yung operations namin kaya kayang-kaya namin na magtrahabo kahit walang budget (Our office is just small. The operations are just small so we can work without a budget),” she added.

She lamented, though, that the budget cut would affect about 200 OVP employees, as well as its programs—free bus rides and financial assistance—and operations of its satellite offices.

Vice President Sara Duterte holds a press conference regarding the status of her chief-of-staff Zuleika Lopez and other Office of the Vice President (OVP) executives before leaving the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City on Nov. 26, 2024. (Santi San Juan/ MANILA BULLETIN)

The OVP might possibly have to downsize its programs, with its 40,000 beneficiaries being reduced to just 10,000.

Duterte said the public must call it out because she is still a salaried government official who must have the resources to serve Filipinos.

“Dapat kayong magreklamo taong bayan kasi nagsu-suweldo kayo ng mga tao tulad ko (The public should complain because you pay for my salary). May I just remind you I have the second highest salary in the government — and yet wala akong gagawin kasi wala kaming projects (I won’t do anything because we do not have projects),” she urged back in November.

Still at work

While juggling what she called a “political persecution,” Duterte continues to reach out to millions of Filipinos through her work at the OVP.

Among the many programs she began in her stint is the establishment of OVP satellite offices. This year, she had to transfer the Western Mindanao Satellite Office to a more accessible location along Veterans Avenue Extension in Barangay Tetuan, Zamboanga City.

Duterte also added new routes in the OVP’s “Libreng Sakay” program that aims to help decongest the influx of commuters during rush hours.

In August, the OVP expanded this service by adding the Cavite route—from the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) hub to the municipality of Naic.

The OVP has been offering these services since 2022, with the agency celebrating its one-millionth passenger last March.

OVP_Libreng Sakay.jpg
Office of the Vice President's Libreng Sakay (OVP Photo)

These, among other things, are what Duterte feared she would have to cut down on because the OVP did not get the budget it proposed for 2025.

But last month, the Vice President already assured that the OVP will maximize whatever resources will be given to it next year.

“Kung ano man iyong maiwan, kung meron mang maiwan, tutuloy pa rin kami sa kung ano iyong ipagkasya namin na pwedeng serbisyo doon sa ibibigay na budget (Whatever will be left, if there will be something left, we will push through with whatever services we can extend with the given the budget),” she said.

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