VP: Accountability should be demanded from everyone

MANILA, Philippines — Transparency and accountability should be demanded not from her alone, Vice President Sara Duterte said yesterday, as she bewailed Malacañang’s making an official announcement of her supposed personal six-day trip to Japan, which she eventually canceled.

In a statement Tuesday night, Duterte noted that the Office of the President issues travel authorities to numerous government offices, including its own officials and employees.

“In this light, the public would surely appreciate full information on the travel expenses incurred by these offices and officials, including the public funds used for such trips,“ Duterte said.

Duterte added that she expects that all travel authorities issued by the Palace, together with the corresponding travel expenses and public funds involved, be made available to the public. Based on her travel request, Duterte was supposed to have left yesterday.

Duterte said she resented the Office of the President’s public disclosure of her supposed trip.

She added that her plans have changed with an updated information formally submitted to the Office of the President.

“I once again remind media organizations and news outlets of the importance of verifying information before publication. The rush to generate public attention or sensationalize a story should never take precedence over the responsibility to report truthfully and accurately,” Duterte said.

Speaking from Zamboanga City, Duterte asked the Senate impeachment court to expedite her trial.

“We just want the process to be expedited because our process cannot take long. People are thinking, ‘is it true that someone did something wrong, are the accusations not true.’ So the process should be quick because in our Constitution there is speedy administration,” Duterte said.

‘Boxing match’ over

House prosecutors earlier said the so-called boxing match in the Senate is basically over, after former Office of the Vice President (OVP) special disbursement officer Gina Acosta testified that Duterte authorized the release of P500 million in confidential funds.

“I give my full trust to our defense team,” Duterte added.

She contradicted the argument that her presence will hasten the impeachment trial.

“That’s not true because I was fully represented by our defense team and it’s sufficient that you have lawyers there who participate in the process, that’s like the presence of the respondent in the impeachment. Because I’m not a lawyer for the impeachment there, I can’t help anyone in the process of presenting witnesses, cross-examining witnesses, that’s all work. And that’s my participation and appearance there,” Duterte added.

Acosta, who took the stand Monday, testified that she gave the money to Duterte’s chief security Col. Raymund Dante Lachica upon her orders.

Meanwhile, her camp maintained that she never worked with Ramil Madriaga, who claims to be her former aide.

“Her interactions with Madriaga were limited to routine campaign interactions,” Duterte’s lawyer Paolo Panelo told “Storycon” on One News.

“It doesn’t mean that she knows him personally or that they had a professional relationship. Madriaga has never worked for the Vice President in any capacity,” he added.

Duterte on Tuesday personally filed a second perjury complaint against Madriaga before the Taguig City Prosecutor’s Office.

It was based on Madriaga’s supplemental affidavit, where he claimed to have served as Duterte’s “bagman.”

Panelo said Duterte filed a motion for the consolidation of the two perjury complaints against Madriaga.

“That’s why we are hoping for a consolidation so that it will be resolved together. Instead of doing separate proceedings, just one proceeding because the allegation is related, the proof of Vice President Sara against Madriaga is related, we will be asking the city prosecutors of Taguig to consolidate and resolve together,” he added.

Duterte’s first perjury complaint against Madriaga stemmed from the latter’s claim that drug lords and Chinese-sponsored Philippine offshore gaming operators bankrolled her campaign for vice president.

Panelo said they are confident with the evidence they gathered against him.

“No matter what he says, no matter how he answers our counter-allegations against him, we are confident that he will not be able to prove the things he is saying,” the lawyer said.

“We also wanted to tell the people that this is the kind of witness, this is the kind of evidence being used by those pushing for impeachment against the Vice President,” he added.

Although Madriaga is listed as a common witness, the prosecution panel in Duterte’s impeachment said they have not yet decided if they would present Madriaga as a witness at the trial.

Trojan Horse

At a press conference, Panelo maintained that Madriaga could be a Trojan Horse for the defense even if he was lying when he read his sworn supplemental affidavit during the hearing of the House committee on justice on April 14 during which he claimed that Duterte’s P125-million confidential funds were spent in less than 24 hours, not 11 days as previously reported.

“Our opinion that Ramil Madriaga will be the star witness of the defense, that’s always been our opinion from the very beginning of all of these. Ramil Madriaga is like a Trojan Horse, because of that, the prosecution’s case will crumble,” Panelo said.

On Tuesday after filing the second perjury case, Duterte told her lawyers of potential difficulties in seeking legal redress from an office controlled by her political opponents.

“She knows that. That’s why we’ve put together a strong case. For whatever it is, the Vice President is aware that we’ve made it very difficult for the Department of Justice to dismiss this complaint,” Panelo said. But she gave no specific instructions to her lawyer after filing the case.

“After filing, we just shared a meal with her. She just thanked the legal team and witnesses for their efforts. She is in good spirits so there are no specific instructions,” Panelo said.

Madriaga’s supplemental affidavit offered a more compressed timeline, alleging that the funds were moved and delivered within hours through a series of coordinated cash transactions involving multiple locations and recipients.

He described in detail a December 2022 operation in which bags of cash, each allegedly containing between P30 million and P35 million, were taken from the Department of Education central office in Pasig and delivered to various destinations, including the Office of the Ombudsman in Quezon City and Laguna.

Madriaga said the deliveries were allegedly carried out under direct instructions from Duterte and involved members of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group, including Colonels Dennis Nolasco and Raymond Lachica. –  Janvic Mateo