Metro Manila, Philippines – Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday defended her stance during a House budget hearing, saying she never abused her power and authority.
During the inquiry on Aug. 27, lawmakers were irked at Duterte’s templated response when grilled about her office’s budget utilization in previous years.
Duterte repeatedly said she “will forgo the opportunity to defend” the budget proposal and leave it to the wisdom of Congress.
“Alam ng taumbayan na hindi ako ‘bratinella’ o spoiled brat dahil kilala nila ako simula noong ako ay nasa Davao pa, simula nang ako ay mayor pa hanggang naging vice president ako,” she was quoted as saying in an interview shared by her office.[Translation: People know I’m not a spoiled brat. They knew me since I was a mayor in Davao until I became vice president.]“Sa palagay ko, hindi lang sanay ang iilan na mga miyembro ng House of Representatives na hindi nila makuha ‘yung gusto nila at gusto nilang marinig na sagot,” she added.[Translation: I think the members of the House of Representatives are not used to not getting the answers they want.]Duterte said she believes Congress has the right to scrutinize the budget proposal.She added, however, that some lawmakers are using the inquiry to attack her over a political fallout.In a statement, Sen. Imee Marcos – the president’s sister and the House Speaker’s cousin, took a swipe at lawmakers supposedly plotting an impeachment case against Duterte.“Ang mga hakbang na ito ay kabastusan sa pasya ng bayan at resulta ng eleksyon. Isang panghahamak sa boses at karapatan ng sambayanan sa pagpili ng kanilang lider,” said Marcos. [Translation: These steps are an affront to the will of the people and the results of the elections. It ignores the voices and rights of the people to choose their leaders]A number of House members repeatedly denied rumors of kicking out Duterte from office.Just last week, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said communication lines have been silent between him and the vice president since she quit the Cabinet.
