Sara mum on Senate summons

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte was mum yesterday on the Senate summons requiring her to answer allegations in the Articles of Impeachment filed by the House of Representatives.

Sought for comment, the Office of the Vice President said it’s up to her legal team to act on the summons delivered to her office on Wednesday.

The Fortun, Narvasa and Salazar Law office is handling the impeachment case against Duterte.

Duterte was still “on a personal trip with her family” in Kuala Lumpur where she attended the Philippine Independence Day anniversary celebrations along with allies Senators Imee Marcos and Robinhood Padilla.

The OVP did not say when she will return to the Philippines, but Duterte has an official schedule for June 16 in Davao City where she will lead the Pasidungog annual awarding ceremony recognizing OVP partners in the implementation of the agency’s various programs.

In remarks before an audience of mostly Filipinos attending the Independence Day celebration in Kuala Lumpur, Duterte claimed that senatorial candidates of the PDP-Laban in the last elections had been cheated.

Only three of the 10 PDP Laban senatorial candidates won in the May 12 midterm elections.

“I talked to IT experts, and they said the numbers that came out were impossible. I am not an IT expert, that’s why I told the PDP Laban, ‘you are the party, you should question how the counting process was made,’” she said.

Meanwhile, former president Rodrigo Duterte’s common-law wife, Honeylet Avanceña said she informed him of the developments in the impeachment case against his daughter, but he gave no comment.