Unbowed

All along people thought persons who face congressional proceedings take the oath as a gesture of commitment to tell the truth.

Since Vice President Sara Duterte refused to take her oath, was she being truthful when she faced a House committee as a resource person last Wednesday? She was there mainly to unleash another tirade against the nasty lawmakers who are out (she says) to impeach her.

Even former presidents Noynoy Aquino and Fidel Ramos had taken the oath when they faced Senate hearings, also as resource persons, after they had stepped down from office. Aquino was questioned about his administration’s controversial Dengvaxia anti-dengue program; Ramos about independent power producers. They didn’t invoke their right to self-incrimination, unlike VP Sara.

The VP, who asked congressmen not to give her any special treatment, came off acting (as usual) like a VIP entitled to exemptions from the rules.

It didn’t help that while other resource persons took their oath as the stone-faced VP sat there defiantly, beside her was her ally, Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who since her presidency has had problems in the truthfulness department.

The VP has resorted to gaslighting amid the disclosures – backed by official reports of the Commission on Audit – of the way she has spent impressively large allocations of people’s money when she was mayor of Davao City, and then the powerful princess of the Duterte administration, and then the bestie of President Marcos.

She clearly did not intend to answer questions of the House committee on good governance and public accountability, which is investigating fund utilization by the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

Instead, she went to the hearing for the opportunity to lambast anew not just congressmen but their leader, her arch enemy (and GMA’s) Martin Romualdez. As of yesterday, there was no reaction from the Speaker.

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As I have written, the Dutertes aren’t the type who back out from a fight. And they can be as pugnacious as abused American XL bully dogs.

The “bratinella” is going for a good offense as her defense, and using Romualdez to hammer home her point about the House moves related to her