House leaders: Senate bets should advance welfare of Filipinos, not VP Sara

House leaders on Thursday said Senate bets should win voters through their advocacies and not through vowing protection for Vice President Sara Duterte amid her looming impeachment trial.

House Deputy Majority Leader Paolo Ortega V of La Union and House Assistant Majority Leader Ernesto Dionisio of Manila made the response when asked about the campaign statement of PDP Laban.

“As the election draws near, PDP Laban urges all Filipino voters to choose wisely who they will vote for, especially in the Senate where the fate of VP Sara will be decided. At the end of the day, impeachment is a numbers game and the more allies she has in the Senate, the better for our country,” the PDP Laban statement read.

PDP Laban is chaired by the Vice President’s father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.

“Kampanya kasi nila 'yun eh. The basis of their campaign is to add more numbers to help the Vice President. Eh, makikita n'yo naman po sa mga ibang kandidato, plataporma po ang bini-bid, pinapakita nila sa taumbayan. So, dapat po, ‘yung tao, doon naka-focus sa plataporma po, hindi po ‘yung magprotekta lang po ng interes ng isang tao,” Ortega said in a press conference.

(That’s their campaign. The basis of their campaign is to add more numbers to help the Vice President. But when you look at the candidates, they show the voters what they fight and stand for. So, the focus of the candidates should be on platforms, not on the interest of one person.)

“Sabi ko nga, kaya nagandahan ako sa speech ng Pangulong Bongbong Marcos kasi isa sa highlights ng speech niya is pro-Filipino at saka ipaglalaban ‘yung West Philippine Sea. Hindi ko lang po alam kung 'yun ang isa sa mga priority ng kabilang grupo,” he added.

(I was impressed with the President's speech because he highlighted that the administration candidates are pro-Filipino, and would fight for the West Philippine Sea. I am not sure if the other groups have the same priority.)

Dionisio agreed with Ortega, saying that candidates should convince voters by showing loyalty to the country, not one person.

“I totally agree with what Congressman Ortega said. The candidates’ position should not be based on personalities or their support for one person. It should really be based on kung maka-Pilipino ka o hindi (their stand, whether they are for Filipino or not). We should really unite as one in fighting for our country,” Dionisio said.

“I do agree na sinabi, piliin natin maigi [ang iboboto natin] pero ano ba ‘yung tamang basehan? Is it because para sa isang tao or is it para sa bansa natin? At the end of the day, dapat pro-Philippines ‘yung mga pipiliin,” Dionisio added.

(I agree that voters should choose their bets carefully, but the basis should be right. Are we voting for a candidate based on his or her support for one person? At the end of the day, we should choose candidates who will stand up for Filipinos.)

The House impeached Vice President Duterte last February 5 with initial 215 House members signing the complaint. Another 25 congressmen later endorsed her impeachment, bringing the total to 240.

The seven Articles of Impeachment against the Vice President accuses Duterte of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the constitution, graft and corruption and other high crimes based on the following:

• conspiracy to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and Speaker Martin Romualdez;
• malversation of P612.5 millions in confidential funds with questionable liquidation documents;
• bribery and corruption in the DepEd during Duterte’s tenure by handing out cash to former DepEd Undersecretary Gloria Jumamil-Mercado (Procurement Head), Bids and Awards Committee Member Resty Osias, DepEd Chief Accountant Rhunna Catalan and Special Disbursing Officer Edward Fajarda;
• unexplained wealth and failure to disclose assets in the Vice President’s Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth where her wealth increased by four times from 2007 from 2017;
• involvement in extrajudicial killings in Davao City; 
• destabilization, insurrection, and public disorder efforts, which include: boycotting the State of the Nation Address (SONA) while declaring herself "designated survivor," leading rallies calling for Marcos' resignation, obstructing congressional investigations by ordering subordinates not to comply with subpoenas, threatening bodily harm against the First Couple and Romualdez, among others;
• the totality of the Vice President’s conduct as the second highest official of the land.

During the press conference, Dionisio said all the Articles of Impeachment are equally important.

“’Yung pagkaka-arrange ng mga articles of impeachment, I don't think hindi naman ‘yung mababa [na Articles] pataas [sa pinakamalakas na kaso]. All articles are equally important. It is relative kung sinong tumitingin o bumabasa sa timbang ng Article na ‘yun,” Dionisio said.

(The arrangement of the Articles of Impeachment does not necessarily reflect the ranking of the weakest to strongest case. The strongest one can be relative, depending on who is reading them.)

Dionisio, however, conceded that the NBI filing of inciting to sedition and grave threat complaint bears a great weight on the part of the prosecution in its bid to prove its impeachment case against the Vice President.

“On the NBI findings, there is presumption of regularity there. They would really dig deeper. They won’t recommend filing a case if they don’t have anything tangible,” he said.

“Although we are not aware yet of the specific evidence they have, I would assume that it bears a great weight for the NBI itself to make a recommendation to file cases,” he added.

Ortega, for his part, said that the first Article of Impeachment against the Vice President is the worst.

“For me, the worst is the active threat to kill the President, the First Lady, Speaker. Para sa akin, napakabigat [nun],” he said.

(Her comments are really grave.)

“That’s bad,” he added.

GMA News Online sought the camp of the Vice President for comments and will publish it as soon as it is available. —AOL, GMA Integrated News