Sara back in PH, ready to face ‘pertinent’ issues
Nearly a month after she left for The Hague to check on her father following his arrest and detention by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged crimes against humanity, Vice President Sara Duterte is back in the Philippines where she will once again be faced with several issues, including her impeachment trial.
Duterte arrived in Manila on Sunday at approximately 9:56 p.m. via Emirates flight no. EK 334, according to the Office of the Vice President (OVP). She flew to the Netherlands on March 12, a day after the arrest of her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.
In an interview on April 4 while she was still in The Hague, Sara said her task was done since “everything [had been] organized” for her father’s defense.
“I’m excited to go home. I’ll just book the travel arrangements to go home,” she added.
Her arrival coincided with the release of another batch of apparently made-up names of people who supposedly received some of the P612 million worth of confidential funds issued to her office as well as the Department of Education (DepEd) while she was still its secretary.
Reporters covering the OVP sought its comment on the recent statement of House Deputy Majority Leader Francisco Paolo Ortega V who said some of the names they found resembled that of celebrities and other high-profile personalities.
Made-up names?
They included “Honeylet Camille Sy,” which resembled the name of her father’s common law partner Honeylet Avanceña; three “Fionas” but with different spellings such as “Feonna Biong,” “Feonna Villegas,” “Fiona Ranitez”; a so-called “Ellen Magellan”; Erwin Q. Ewan; Gary Tanada; and Joel Linangan.
“The Vice President is expected to address any pertinent matters in the coming days,” the OVP said in a statement announcing Duterte’s arrival from the Netherlands.
Ortega, meanwhile, said in a press briefing on Monday that he will conduct a “mini-investigation” to determine if the 942 supposed recipients with actual birth records, as certified by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), had indeed received confidential funds.
Of the number, 670 were purported recipients of the OVP’s P500-million confidential funds while the rest signed acknowledgment receipts for payments taken from the DepEd’s P112.5 million confidential funds.
List ‘bloaters’
“What we are sure of is those with fictitious names didn’t receive [money]. They might have only been used to bloat the list [of recipients],” Ortega said.
“This is why we would be looking into those names with [PSA] records because maybe then, we would be able to talk to or invite persons who could tell us if they received money or how the confidential funds were used,” he added.
He said that most of the questions pertaining to the use of the P612.5 million confidential funds will likely only be answered in Duterte’s impeachment trial.
Ortega welcomed Duterte’s return from The Hague and probable preparation for the trial, citing her assertion of answering in an impeachment court questions regarding her use of public funds.
“It’s easy to explain [the use of confidential funds]. It’s very simple if we abide by the guidelines (Joint Circular 2025-01) on utilizing confidential funds. They could have explained it during the hearing,” Ortega said, referring to last year’s inquiry held by the House committee on good government and public accountability on the matter.
