MANILA – Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio has ruled out the possibility of attending the House of Representatives’ good government and public accountability panel inquiry on the budget use of her office and the Department of Education (DepEd).
According to Duterte-Carpio, despite personally receiving an invite during her appearance at the House last week, she said it will just be a waste of time attending the investigation scheduled for November 20.
“Inimbita nila ako noong una, pumunta ako, umupo ako roon. Hindi naman nila ako tinanong. Nakaupo lang ako, nasasayang ang oras ko. Kaya nagpaalam ako kung pwede ako umalis at pinayagan naman nila ako,” Duterte-Carpio said.
“So hindi ko alam kung bakit inimbita nila ako, hindi naman nila ako binigyan ng mga tanong. Pero, hindi ako a-attend sa hearings nilang susunod. Kasi nandun na ako eh, pumunta ako pero wala naman silang ginawa sa akin, pinaupo lang ako,” she added.
The invitation for the inquiry was served Wednesday to the Vice President when she showed up during the House QuadComm probe on drug war killings during the administration of her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.
“We plan to send a letter to say why. And we plan as well, to send an affidavit on the confidential funds. Under oath rin naman iyang affidavit na ‘yan,” the Vice President stated.
Rep. Joel Chua, House committee chairman, stated that it was very unfortunate that Duterte-Carpio is once again snubbing the inquiry regarding her alleged fund misuse.
“The Vice President has been given every opportunity to clarify the use of public funds in her office, particularly those that are shielded from typical auditing processes due to confidentiality,” Chua said.
“The public deserves clear answers, and we expect all officials, especially those at the highest levels, to step forward and explain their spending,” he added.
The House good government and public accountability panel earlier cited four Office of the Vice President officials in contempt over failure to show up in the congressional inquiry. The contempt order on other OVP personnel has been lifted as they already attended the hearing./PN
