VP Sara: France Castro at the center of impeachment talks

Vice President Sara Duterte has accused House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers party-list Representative France Castro of being at the center of the impeachment talks against her. 

In the third part of the recorded video interview shared by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) to members of the media on Wednesday, Duterte reiterated that she is no longer surprised of the impeachment rumors as it is supposedly being “openly” discussed at the House of Representatives. 

“Kung babalik tayo noong nakaraang taon ay nagsalita na si France Castro noong November 2023, nagsabi na siya, ‘Ay, pinag-uusapan namin ang impeachment ni Inday Sara.’ At nagbigay siya ng mga basehan doon sa ipa-file daw nila na impeachment. Kaya tuloy-tuloy lang ‘yan na pinag-uusapan openly, diyan sa House of Representatives, ang impeachment,” she said.

(In November 2023, France Castro was already talking about my impeachment. She gave grounds for the impeachment complaint they are supposed to file. The impeachment is constantly being discussed openly in the House of Representatives.) 

“At lagi nandiyan sa gitna si France Castro sa usaping impeachment sa akin,” she added. 

(And France Castro is always there at the center of the impeachment talks against me.)

Castro, on the other hand, refuted that the Makabayan bloc pushed for Duterte’s impeachment. 

“[W]alang pahayag ang Makabayan bloc noong Setyembre 2023 na nagtutulak kami ng impeachment; sa katunayan may pahayag pa nga kami noong Agosto at Nobyembre 2023, na nagsasabi na premature ang usapin sa impeachment,” the solon said. 

(The Makabayan bloc didn’t make any statement in September 2023 that we were pushing for her impeachment. In fact, we even had a statement in August and November 2023, saying that talks on impeachment were premature.) 

GMA News Online sought for the comment of Castro regarding the allegation, and will update this story once she responds.

In August, Castro said Duterte’s alleged misuse of confidential funds worth P73 million in 2022 was grounds for impeachment. 

According to Castro, Duterte “broke the law” and the Commission on Audit’s (COA) findings on the OVP’s confidential funds showed “a clear betrayal of public trust.”

"COA's findings reveal a glaring misuse of public funds. It is becoming apparent that Duterte was banking on the supposed veil of secrecy around Confidential Funds to hide her unlawful use of people's money,” Castro said. 

"Hindi naman puwedeng gagawa ng kalokohan tapos pababayaan na lang, dapat may accountability (She cannot misuse the funds and get away with it. There should be accountability). Her misuse of confidential funds is an impeachable offense," Castro added.

Duterte has repeatedly said that there was no misuse of the confidential funds, and even of the funds of the Department of Education (DepEd), which she previously served as secretary. 

"Kaya ngayon, pinipilit nilang gawan ng basehan ‘yung mga sinasabi nila na impeachment sa akin. Kaya hindi bago ‘yan na pinaguusapan ang impeachment. Kasama 'yan sa plano nila laban sa akin," the Vice President said in the latest video. 

(Now, they are trying to make a basis for the impeachment against me. It's not new to me. That is a part of their plan against me.) 

Duterte had said that impeachment efforts orchestrated by House members against her were documented.

 

 

 

Confidential funds

The Vice President also claimed that House Speaker Martin Romualdez was supporting the Makabayan bloc to plot the attacks against her, citing the instance when the OVP and DepEd’s proposed confidential funds for 2024 were removed.

This allegation was denied by Castro. The lawmaker instead asked Duterte to use the OVP budget hearing to clarify issues surrounding her confidential funds.

"Unang-una walang katotohanan na kami sa Makabayan bloc ay nakipagpulong kay House Speaker Romualdez para sa impeachment ni VP Duterte,” Castro said.

(First of all, it’s not true that we in the Makabayan bloc met with House Speaker Romualdez for the impeachment of VP Duterte.)

“We ask that the OVP provide a detailed public accounting of how the Php 125 million was spent. We hoped that Vice President Sara Duterte will use the OVP budget hearing to personally clarify her position on this sensitive issue, but she just used squid tactics to avoid answering and even boycotted the hearing yesterday,” she added.

According to Castro, the Makabayan bloc remains resolute in its stance against the “illegal use of confidential funds by the Vice President, now supported by the Commission on Audit's findings.”

She also maintained that the removal of OVP’s confidential funds was “both legitimate and necessary.”

Duterte, meanwhile, said that the OVP “properly” defended how they were going to use the confidential funds, but the House party leaders still decided to strip it anyway.

“At para hindi halata na inaatake nila ako, ay tinanggalan din nila ‘yung mga iba pang mga departments ng kanilang confidential funds,” she said.

(They also removed the other agencies’ confidential funds so that it would not be obvious that they were attacking me.)

“So, nakikita niyo, bumulong ang Makabayan Bloc kay Martin Romualdez. At dahil sa kagustuhan ni Martin Romualdez na hindi siya atakihin, at dahil sa gusto niyang suportahan ang Makabayan at ang NPA, nakinig siya. At ang ginawa niya, tanggalin ‘yung budget,” she continued.

(You see, the Makabayan Bloc talked to Martin Romualdez. And because Martin Romualdez didn’t want to get attacked and because he wanted to support the Makabayan and the NPA, he listened to them. What he did was remove the confidential funds.)

Duterte had alleged that Romualdez and House appropriations committee chair and Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co have been "controlling" the national budget allocations.

GMA News Online also reached out to Romualdez and Co, but they have yet to respond as of posting time.

Co previously denied Duterte’s allegations.

“Unang-una, again pangbubudol na naman po yan. Napakalaking pambubudol. Hindi po totoo iyan,” Co told reporters.

(Those claims are a scam. Straight up scam tactic. It is not true.)

This, as Co emphasized that the House appropriations panel has 139 members, while the House has over 300 members, and that there are also 24 Senators who scrutinize the proposed national budget every year.

In 2023, the House of Representatives removed P1.23 billion worth of confidential funds of five agencies, including the OVP and DepEd, under the proposed P5.768-trillion budget for 2024.

House Committee on Appropriations senior vice chairperson Stella Quimbo said this happened after the House small panel agreed to reallocate P194 billion from the proposed 2024 national budget for 2024 — including the P1.23 billion of confidential fund — to other government budget items that address the rising cost of commodities, seek to develop and protect the West Philippine Sea, and are subject to auditing procedures.

Came November, Duterte already let go of the proposed P500 million confidential funds for OVP, and another P150 million for DepEd, for fiscal year 2024.—KBK/ VAL/RF, GMA Integrated News