Sara Duterte claps back at Tingog party-list: I won’t answer Martin Romualdez

Vice President Sara Duterte said Wednesday she is refusing to answer the criticisms of Tingog party-list Representative Jude Acidre regarding the use of confidential funds and her impending impeachment trial, believing that Speaker Martin Romualdez is behind all of it.

Acidre on Tuesday slammed Duterte for saying that her lawyers are "more than confident" that they will win the impeachment case filed against her.

For the lawmaker, the Vice President’s “confidence” appears “misplaced” considering her failure to clearly explain how her office spent millions in confidential funds in just 11 days.

“What’s puzzling is the arrogance of certainty coming from the Vice President,” Acidre said. “You cannot claim vindication when you have yet to offer a full and truthful accounting of public funds entrusted to your office.”

Duterte, in return, said she really chose not to explain such matters to House members, led by Romualdez.

“Hindi naman sa hindi ko siya maipaliwanag. Ang ginagawa ko ay hindi talaga ako nagpapaliwanag, lalong lalo na sa mga members of the House of Representatives,” she said. 

(It's not that I can't explain. What I’m doing is that I’m really not answering, especially to the members of the House of Representatives.) 

“Si Jude Acidre, na gusto niyang sumagot ako sa kanya patungkol sa confidential funds, ay pagmamay-ari ni Martin Romualdez kasi second seat siya ng Tingog party-list eh. So ibig sabihin pinapasagot nila ako kanino kay Martin Romualdez. So bakit naman ako sasagot sa Tingog party-list,” she added. 

(Jude Acidre is a representative of the Tingog party-list owned by Romualdez, and he wants me to answer regarding the confidential funds. This means that he wants me to answer to Martin Romualdez. Why would I even do that?)

The Vice President thus called on Filipinos not to vote for the Tingog party-list in the upcoming May 12 midterm elections. 

“Unang-una, pwede niyo siguro matulong talaga, huwag niyong iboto ang Tingog party-list kasi ang boto para sa Tingog party-list ay boto para kay Martin Romualdez,” she said.

(What you could do to help is firstly, not vote for the Tingog party-list because a vote for the Tingog party-list means a vote for Martin Romualdez.) 

The House of Representatives impeached Duterte on February 5, with over 200 lawmakers endorsing the complaint. She was accused of betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the constitution, graft and corruption and other high crimes.

Duterte has since filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition with urgent application of temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction before the Supreme Court. 

She asserted that the House committed grave abuse of discretion by "deliberately" freezing action on the first three impeachment complaints, then violated the constitutionally mandated one-year ban when the fourth complaint was signed by the chamber's majority. —RF, GMA Integrated News