House leader: No talks yet of Sara Duterte impeachment despite 'threat' vs Marcos, others

House lawmakers are not yet discussing the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte even after her supposed order to assassinate President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. in the event that she is killed, Manila Representative Joel Chua said Tuesday. 

"Sa ngayon, wala pa naman po kami napag-uusapan tungkol diyan," Chua, chairperson of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, said in a press conference.

"Basta kami po, tinutuloy lamang po namin itong trabaho, kung ano iyong aming maa-unravel sa hearing na ito," Chua added, referring to their ongoing investigation into the alleged questionable budget use of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) under Duterte's leadership.

(We haven't talked about that as of now. As far as we are concerned, we will just push through with our hearing and see what we can unravel.)

Chua said that it is only when the inquiry is over that the committee can evaluate its next possible action.

"We are a collegial body, and our goal here really is to craft new legislation based on our findings," he said.

So far in its hearings, the committee has discovered the following:

• the OVP submitted acknowledgement receipts or proof of payment of confidential fund with wrong dates, if not unnamed signatories and suspicious or non-legible names;
• the DepEd under Duterte submitted military certifications justifying confidential fund use apparently without the military’s knowledge;
• Duterte ordered the Special Disbursing Officer (SDO) to disburse the confidential fund to a military officer, contrary to laws;
• Duterte showered her subordinates with money, among others

Speaker Martin Romualdez earlier denied Duterte's allegation that he is plotting to kill her, saying her claim is just a diversionary tactic in light of the ongoing House investigation. 

Denying that she misused public funds, Duterte has maintained that the House inquiry is just a prelude to the impeachment proceedings against her.

Also on Tuesday, administration lawmakers said the OVP Special Disbursing Officers (SDO) and the Vice President, due to command responsibility, could be held liable for malversation of funds or even plunder for delegating the disbursement of the confidential funds to a military official in violation of the joint circular governing the use of confidential and intelligence funds as well as Presidential Decree 1445.

“If this was taken for personal gain, if it was proven fictitious and that the acknowledgment receipts are erroneous to justify the taking of this amount, that could be malversation or worse, plunder since it is over P50 million,” 1-Rider party-list lawmaker Rodge Gutierrez said in a press conference.

“The SDO should come from the agency where the fund is allotted to. They severely violated protocols,” Chua added.

According to the Revised Penal Code, malversation of public funds happens when "a public officer who, by reason of the duties of his office, is accountable for public funds or property, shall appropriate the same, or shall take or misappropriate or shall consent, through abandonment or negligence, shall permit any other person to take such public funds or property, wholly or partially."

Republic Act 7080 states that plunder happens when "a public officer who, by himself or in connivance with members of his family, relatives by affinity or consanguinity, business associates, subordinates, or other persons, amasses, accumulates, or acquires ill-gotten wealth through a combination or series of overt or criminal acts in the aggregate amount or total value of at least P50 million." —KBK/VBL, GMA Integrated News