Vice President Sara Duterte has gone public with a personal note of encouragement for Francisco “Kiko” Barzaga, addressing the former Cavite congressman through a social media post a day after his colleagues stripped him of his seat in the House of Representatives.
Cast as an open letter to “KB” and dated June 3, the message frames Barzaga’s removal not as a disgrace but as the cost of refusing to fall in line. Duterte opened by acknowledging she had no direct line to reach him, calling a Facebook post the closest alternative available to her.
Much of the letter dwells on the theme of being an outsider. “Being different is okay,” Duterte wrote, before drawing a parallel to her own treatment in political life. “Ako man ay itinuturing na kakaiba. Ilang beses na akong tinawag na baliw, bobo at kung anu-ano pa dahil lamang sa pagtangging sumunod sa nakasanayan,” she said, describing the labels she has worn for declining to conform.
She went on to credit Barzaga with a clean record on the kinds of offenses that have shadowed others in government, contrasting him against figures convicted of child abuse, accused of carting off public money in suitcases, or tolerant of corruption. The Vice President also worked in a lighter aside, telling Barzaga she knew he had a cold and urging him to take Vitamin C and drink more water.
A vote that drew an unusual comparison
The expulsion that prompted the letter came Tuesday night, June 2, when lawmakers voted 265-14 with eight abstentions to adopt the report of the House Committee on Ethics and Privileges. The tally meant more members moved to remove Barzaga than the 257 who voted to impeach Duterte a second time on May 11. He becomes only the second person in the chamber’s history to be ousted by his peers.
Ethics panel chair Rep. JC Abalos, of the 4Ps party-list, told the plenary that suspension had already been tried and had failed to change the lawmaker’s conduct. “With the representative having meted, in two instances, 60-day suspensions, the Committee considers that another penalty of suspension will not likely deter the improper behavior which continuously reflects negatively on the image of the House of Representatives,” he said. Abalos characterized Barzaga’s record as a sustained pattern of disruption that interfered with plenary business.
Roots of the complaint
The case against the 27-year-old from Dasmariñas was built on a complaint by Iloilo Deputy Speaker Janette Garin, who pointed to repeated interruptions of sessions, discourteous treatment of fellow members, and online activity the committee judged corrosive to the institution’s standing. Among the cited incidents were mockery of House leadership and unauthorized live streams during budget deliberations.
Not every lawmaker was at ease with the outcome. Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice raised the question of whether the penalty would read as retaliation against a critic rather than a response to genuine misconduct, and pressed for a roll call to confirm a quorum before the chamber proceeded.
Barzaga himself had signaled he expected the result. “Since it’s my last day in Congress, so I’m saying my goodbyes to my fellow colleagues. And I’m telling them not to steal so much,” he said ahead of the vote.
This was not the first time Duterte had spoken up for him. When the House handed Barzaga his initial 60-day suspension in late 2025, she had described the action as part of a broader campaign to mute people who voice “uncomfortable truths” and pledged to stand with Filipinos unwilling to be cowed by those holding power.
