Sara Duterte To Explain Fake Intel Names During Trial

It is wrong to pay heed to pronouncements of House lawmakers over fictitious names on the confidential funds of both the Office of the Vice President and Department of Education (DepEd), Vice President Sara Duterte said on Wednesday, July 9, insisting on rules in intelligence operations.

“It can be very well addressed during (impeachment) trial, so our lawyers are preparing and collecting pieces of evidence and gathering affidavits from witnesses that they will present,” Duterte said in an interview in The Hague, Netherlands.

The issue of alleged misuse of P500 million and P112.5 million in confidential funds of the OVP and DepEd, respectively, from 2022 to 2024 are part of the Articles of Impeachment against Duterte.

Duterte concurrently served as secretary of DepEd in July 2022 until she resigned in July 2024.

“Let me just say this, no? I think it is wrong for everyone to pick up as truth or as a fact all the pronouncements of the members of the House of Representatives, particularly with the fictitious names, because there are rules in intelligence operations and you already heard… people who work in intelligence say that aliases are used,” Duterte said.

She did not elaborate.

“That can be discussed during the trial. I do not want to elaborate on intelligence operations. We have an intelligence expert on our side, two actually, who will be our resource persons. So, let us wait for the trial and as I said (on Tuesday, July 8), if there is no trial, then I will answer it publicly. I just want to wait what will happen to the Articles of Impeachment,” Duterte added.

House deputy majority leader and La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega V has said that suspicious and fictional-sounding names – some resembling celebrities and high-profile personalities – have joined the list of recipients of Duterte’s P612.5 million combined confidential funds.

Ortega said the newly discovered fictitious names in the list of confidential recipients fuel growing public suspicion that the aliases were intentionally inserted in liquidation reports submitted by the OVP and DepEd in a supposed systemic attempt to hide transactions.

Constitution should guide impeachment trial – lawmaker

The Constitution and not surveys should guide the impeachment trial of Vice President Duterte, Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville Luistro said on Thursday, July 10.

“Well, I have said this earlier, regardless of the result of the survey, we have a constitutional duty that we really have to face. There is nothing which is more supreme than the Philippine Constitution because this is the mandate of the people,” Luistro said, stressing that the process is a constitutional duty that should not be swayed by public opinion.

“So regardless of the results of the survey, whether there is high percent of support in the impeachment or low, this is mandatory for us to conduct a trial,” she said.

Luistro issued the statement after the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey found that 59 percent of Filipino respondents were aware of the impeachment complaint against Duterte. Of those surveyed, 42 percent disagreed with the complaint, 32 percent agreed, and 18 percent were undecided. The remaining 7 percent said they did not have enough knowledge to form an opinion.

The same June 25 to 29 survey also found that 44 percent of respondents believe the Senate, as an impeachment court, is deliberately delaying the trial. Twenty-five percent did not believe this was the case, 22 percent were undecided, and 9 percent said they lacked sufficient knowledge to answer.

Duterte has dismissed the impeachment complaint as political persecution and harassment. She also said her legal team is preparing solid arguments to seek the dismissal of the case.

Luistro disagreed with Duterte’s assertion, saying the process must be judged by the strength of evidence, not political rhetoric.

“If there are no evidence, that is political prosecution. But if there is an evidence, that is a legitimate prosecution. As far as we are concerned, we have ample and strong evidence supporting the seven Articles of Impeachment,” Luistro said.

Other members of the House expressed similar views, saying the Senate must allow the trial to proceed so the public can judge for themselves.

Zambales 1st District Rep. Jay Khonghun said the high number of undecided respondents shows that many Filipinos are waiting to see the actual evidence.

For his part, Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong questioned the urgency to dismiss the complaint despite surveys favoring Duterte.

“If they are so confident about the survey, then why are they still pushing for the dismissal of the impeachment case? It’s them who said the people’s leaning is towards to their advantage. Why are they afraid to have the impeachment trial to proceed? If they are confident of the survey, why do they seek for dismissal?” Adiong said. – With Jose Rodel Clapano