La Union Rep. Francisco Paolo Ortega V, a member of the so-called ‘Young Guns’ bloc in the House of Representatives advised Vice President Sara Duterte to stop her “theatrics” and just address directly allegations of fund misuse leveled against her.
In a statement on Sunday, Ortega criticized Duterte for her dramatic outbursts and active threats against President Ferdinand Marcos, First Lady Liza Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez during a virtual press conference in the wee hours on November 23.
“This kind of behavior is not fit (for) a Vice President. Instead of spewing seemingly unintelligible threats, she should use that spunk to clarify the serious allegations surrounding her office,” Ortega said.
The Vice President and her subordinates in the Office of the Vice President (OVP), including chief of staff Zuleika Lopez, are currently being investigated by the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability over questionable transactions involving millions of taxpayers’ money.
Ortega questioned Duterte’s refusal to address the core issues during her public statements. He accused her of diverting public attention to evade liability.
“Theatrics like camping out in the House of Representatives only serve as a distraction. These will not help to restore public trust,” the lawmaker said, referring to Duterte’s decision to stay at the office of her brother, Rep. Paolo Duterte, as a show of support to her detained chief of staff.
Lopez was held at the detention center of Batasan Pambansa after lawmakers cited her in contempt for asking the Commission on Audit (COA) to withhold its audit findings of the OVP budget as well the Department of Education (DepEd), which Duterte led before quitting the Marcos cabinet.
