Sara: Corruption a threat to sovereignty, freedom
In her Independence Day message, Vice President Sara Duterte said the country’s sovereignty and hard-won freedom may not only be threatened by a foreign force but also undermined by domestic corruption and poor governance.
“Corruption is not only about stealing money. It steals opportunity, it steals dignity, and it steals hope. And ultimately, it steals freedom itself,” Duterte said in a speech in Davao City on Friday.
Duterte hewed to this theme even as she herself faces an impeachment trial in the Senate next month over serious allegations of corruption and violations of the Constitution.
In the articles of impeachment endorsed by the House of Representatives in May, she is accused of misusing some P612 million in confidential funds—or P500 million from the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and P112.5 million during her two-year stint as education secretary.
In her speech on Friday, the Vice President said: “We fought for our sovereignty against foreign invaders. But sovereignty is not lost only to those who come from foreign shores.”
Stolen freedoms
“It is also lost whenever public service becomes a private business. When government officials behave like a syndicate stealing the people’s money,” she added.
“Every peso stolen from the people’s treasury steals a child’s freedom from hunger. It steals a student’s freedom from illiteracy or substandard education. It steals a patient’s freedom to obtain quality healthcare. It steals a worker’s freedom to earn a decent living,” Duterte said.
“Every ghost project is a classroom never built. Every corrupt contract is a road that was never built for farmers to bring their produce to the market,” she went on.
Duterte urged Filipinos to keep defending freedom and Philippine sovereignty by demanding accountability and good governance from public officials.
“Let us choose truth. Let us choose accountability. Above all, let us choose hope.”
