Zambales 1st district Rep. Jay Khonghun (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (Facebook, MANILA BULLETIN)

Zambales 1st district Rep. Jay Khonghun doesn't find it a shock at all nearly 85 percent of Filipino college students want Vice President Sara Duterte removed from office. 

“Makikita po natin sa survey na ito na kahit ang mga estudyanteng malamang naabutan siyang DepEd secretary, naniniwalang dapat na siyang maalis sa pwesto. Bakit, ika n’yo? Malamang dahil hindi rin maganda ang kanyang pamamalakad noon sa DepEd,” Khonghun said in a statement Wednesday, April 2.

(We can see in this survey that even the students who were around during her time as DepEd secretary believe she should be removed from office. Why is that, you ask? It's probably because her leadership at DepEd wasn't that good.)

Khonghun was referring to the results of the survey conducted by the Centre for Student Initiatives (CSI), which showed that more than eight in 10 Filipino college students—or 84.8 percent—believe that Vice President Duterte should be removed from office.

“Kung sa DepEd pa lang, palpak na ang pamumuno, paano pa ngayon na mas matindi ang mga alegasyon ng katiwalian? (If her leadership over at DepEd was a failure, what more now that there are more serious allegations of corruption?)" asked the legislator, alluding to the lady official's recent impeachment by the House of Representatives and upcoming impeachment trial at the Senate

The impeachment complaint against Vice President Duterte includes grave allegations of bribery and corruption during her stint as DepEd secretary from June 30, 2022 to July 19, 2024, Khonghun said. 

“Kung ganito ang klase ng pamumuno niya sa DepEd, hindi naman kataka-taka kung bakit maraming estudyanteng naniniwalang dapat na siyang matanggal sa pwesto (If this was the kind of leadership she had at DepEd, then it's no wonder why a lot of students want her unseated)," said the House assistant majority leader. 

"Dagdag pa natin d’yan ang usapin na hindi naman talaga hinarap ng Bise Presidente ang mga problema ng mababang kalidad ng edukasyon, kakulangan sa mga gamit, at iba pang isyu sa DepEd noong termino niya,” he stressed.

(Add to this the fact that the Vice President never really addressed the problem on low quality of education, lack of facilities, and other issued that hounded DepEd during her term.)

In the online survey conducted by CSI from Feb. 28 to March 16 using non-probability sampling, a staggering 1,696 out of 2,000 respondents, or 84.8 percent, answered "yes" to the question: “Do you believe Sara Duterte should be removed from office?” 

The survey also found out that 73.9 percent (1,477 out of 2,000) of the respondents prefer that the impeachment court be convened before the mid-term elections in May 2025.

Khonghun emphasized the importance of listening to the voice of the youth, who experienced firsthand the failures of Duterte tenure as education chief.

Giving an unsolicited piece of advice, Khonghun told the Vice President: Harapin na lamang niya ang mga alegasyon laban sa kanya. Kung wala talaga siyang ginawang masama, bakit siya umiiwas? (She should just face the allegations against her. If she really didn't do anything wrong, then why is she avoiding them?)"

Vice President Duterte is currently in the Netherlands. She is serving as spokesperson for her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, who is being detained and tried at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity.