Vice President Sara Duterte’s absence from her own impeachment proceedings is undermining her ability to rebut the allegations stacking up against her, according to Batangas Rep. Paolo Ortega V, who called on her Tuesday to appear at Wednesday’s hearing and testify under oath.
Ortega, who has himself backed an ouster complaint against Duterte, said public statements and social media posts are no substitute for sworn testimony before the House Committee on Justice — particularly given the recent testimony of Ramil Madriaga, who has identified himself as Duterte’s former aide and claimed to have delivered cash on her behalf.
“If she truly wants to rebut Madriaga, she should not do it through captions, press statements or soundbites,” Ortega said. “She must face the committee, take an oath, and answer.”
“What the public needs in the impeachment is testimony under oath for the truth, not a no-show,” he added.
Madriaga testified before the justice committee that he had personally transported bags of cash amounting to between P30 million and P35 million for Duterte, and alleged that her 2022 presidential campaign was funded by Chinese businessmen. He also claimed that former President Rodrigo Duterte had used him as a dummy account holder, signing a bank secrecy waiver during the same session to open his accounts to investigators.
The charges before the committee against Sara Duterte include alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to her office and to the Department of Education while she served as its secretary, as well as accusations that she accumulated wealth beyond what she has declared.
Lawyer Michael Poa, the spokesman for Duterte’s defense team, had not responded to a request for comment as of the time of the report.
At the committee’s next session, chairperson Gerville Luistro of Batangas said financial records belonging to Duterte — including her statements of net worth and tax filings — are set to be taken up by the panel.
