Vice President Sara Duterte on Friday dismissed the recent plunder charges filed against her over confidential funds as a 'fishing expedition' designed to deflect criticism from flood control failures. She accused critics of manufacturing legitimacy for probes while no one is held accountable for other public fund misuse.
Vice President Sara Duterte responded to the December 12 plunder, bribery, malversation, and graft complaints filed by civic and church leaders at the Ombudsman, alleging misuse of P612 million in confidential funds from her Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd).
In her statement, Duterte described the charges as an attempt 'to weaponize any accusation they can manufacture just to create a semblance of procedural legitimacy for an investigation.' She tied it to last year's House committee probe, which she labeled a fishing expedition seeking impeachment grounds, including false claims of signature solicitations for budgets. 'This is not about seeking the truth – this is about covering up the plunder of public coffers, whereby no one is held accountable until now,' she said, urging Filipinos to stay critical.
The confidential funds issue underpinned a prior House impeachment complaint, ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court last July under the one-year bar rule, with a motion for reconsideration pending. Deputy Minority Leader Leila de Lima noted that Ombudsman findings could support a new impeachment next year.
