Manila 6th district Rep. Bienvenido "Benny" Abante Jr. pulled no punches in his manifestation before the House Committee on Justice Wednesday, April 22, wherein he blasted impeachment respondent Vice President Sara Duterte for choosing not to attend the proceedings.

What's more aggravating for Abante, a pastor preacher, is that the Vice President has instead chosen to respond to select allegations emerging from the House impeachment hearings via press releases.

Chaired by Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville "Jinky Bitrics" Luistro, the justice committee has so far conducted three hearings on the determination of probable cause in the two active impeachment complaints against Duterte. The latter no-showed each one of them.

"Ako po I'm disappointed na wala ang ating Vice President. But I'm not surprised, madam chair. Pero mas maganda sana kung nandito siya sapagkat palagay ko nakikinig siya eh. Alam niya lahat ng pinag-uusapan dito eh," Abante said.

(I am disappointed that our Vice President is not here. But I am not surprised, Madam Chair. It would have been better if she were present, because I believe she is listening. She knows everything being discussed here.)

"Now, the Vice President has shown a pattern: Matapang sa salita, pero umiiwas sa tanong (She talks tough, but is evasive with questions). She is tough when speaking to media, when issuing statements. Pero kapag haharap sa Kongreso, biglang nawawala (But when she's supposed to face Congress, she suddenly goes missing)," reckoned the House quad-committee (quad-comm) version 2.0 overall chairman.

Abante says he believes the allegations that have been raised against the Vice President in the probable cause hearings are "serious".

"Congress has only one responsibility: to act, to examine, to let the process move forward," said the veteran lawmaker from Manila.

According to him, the Vice President’s handling of her impeachment case is a "preview of leadership"--a reference to the lady official's presidential aspiration in 2028.

"Binanggit niya na na gusto niyang maging pangulo ng Pilipinas. So ibig sabihin pag siya pangulo ng Pilipinas, hahayaan niya na pumunta lang sa media ang isang lider ng bansa upang sabihin ang mga bagay na ito kaysa siya ang humarap sa committee na siyang nag-iimbestiga," Abante said.

(She mentioned that she wants to become president of the Philippines. So that means if she were president, she would allow a national leader to simply go to the media to say these things instead of appearing before the committee that is conducting the investigation.)

Abante went on to further lecture the former Davao City mayor.

"A leader who avoids questions sends a dangerous message; that power is above accountability. Hindi pwedeng piliin lang kung kailan ka sasagot (You can't be selective with when you answer).

"Public office demands transparency because, as the Constitution says, public office is a public trust especially when the questions are quite serious," he said.

To prove a point that the Vice President’s toughness was misplaced, Abante recalled an incident nearly 15 years ago the former punched a sheriff in Davao City.

"We have seen this before. Toughness directed at those who cannot fight back--remember the sheriff she punched? Matapang sa mga taong walang laban (She is brave against people who are defenseless)," he said.

"Real leadership is tested when you face scrutiny, not when you avoid it," the ranking congressman underscored.

It was on July 1, 2011 when then-Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte punched court sheriff Abe Andres during a demolition operation in Barangay Soliman, Agdao, Davao City. Duterte later issued a public apology to Andres and his family.