By Omar Fernando

DAVAO CITY — Vice President Sara Z. Duterte stood firm in her refusal to give up the second-highest position in the country despite the call raised by a few individuals and left-leaning groups tied to dirty politics.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Vice President Duterte also detailed the approaches being hurled by her political nemesis: the first is impeachment, and the other is resignation.

She said her political antagonists had no legal grounds to pursue the impeachment. To satisfy their desire to pin her down, she added that they persisted in finding anything useful.

“Gusto nila ng impeachment, di ba? So, apparently, pakiramdam ko at sa tingin ko sa mga nangyayari, wala silang kaso for impeachment kaya sila nandiyan, kaya sila sige hanap ng hanap ng kung ano gagamitin nila,” she said.

She added that her political hecklers, ACT Teachers party-list Representative France Castro and former Senator Antonio Trillanes, are now pursuing two tracks to pin her down.

Trillanes, she said, is pursuing the impeachment track while Castro and her leftist gangs are tailing the resignation path.

“Ngayon, ang track ni France Castro, ni Trillanes is impeachment. Gumawa sila ng isa pang track na resignation parang papalabas nila ‘impeach ka namin for wrong doing’ whatever and then itong isang grupo na ito ‘umalis ka diyan kaso kapag hindi ka umalis kapit tuko ka,’” she said.

Duterte, however, made it clear that she is not answerable to one or two individuals but to the more than 32 million Filipinos who voted her for the position.

“Pero hindi naman kasi ako sasagot sa ‘young guns’ dahil kailangan kong sumagot sa 32 million na bumoto sa akin hindi sa isa or dalawa na tao,” she said in Filipino.

She firmly said she would not abandon the position because the people who voted for her believed she was truly working for the country and the welfare of the Filipinos.

“Kaya hindi ako aalis dito dahil nilagay ako ng mga tao believing that I will work for the country and that is what we did. We worked,” VP Sara said.

She also hinted that Castro, Trillanes, and Senator Riza Hontiveros have one handler, but refused to name the person.

Blowing somebody’s whistle

The political drama aimed at tarnishing VP Sara’s person shifted to another gear as her political opponents presented a “whistleblower” on alleged anomalies at the Department of Education (DepEd).

Former DepEd Undersecretary Gloria Mercado appeared before the House Committee on Good Governance on Wednesday, flinging mud against VP Sara.

Her appearance, though, has raised some eyebrows, especially because of the timing—when the Vice President’s political critics have found no solid grounds to discredit her person.

Netizens on social media also doubt if Mercado really “is a whistleblower” or “is she blowing somebody’s whistle” — that somebody who is VP Sara’s principal political antagonist.

In the same press conference, Duterte said Mercado was dismissed from the service for using the Vice President’s name in soliciting some PHP16 million from a company for a DepEd project.

The dismissal was anchored on graft and corrupt practices that Mercado committed while serving as the procurement and human resources head of the DepEd.

“Gloria Mercado is a disgruntled former employee of the Department of Education. She was let go because of lost trust and confidence,” Duterte said. “Naka strike 2 sya sa akin. Una nyang ginawa, nagsolicit sya ng P16 million sa isang kumpanya on paper using my name without any authorization.”

Documents obtained by Banner indicated the details of the packages, items, and the corresponding amounts solicited by Mercado from a private firm.

VP Sara said Mercado also committed a blunder when she took a teacher item from Region 7 and utilized as her Executive Assistant at the DepEd Central Office in Pasig City.

“I think hindi lang nya matanggap na kasalanan nya kung bakit sya pinalayas sa DepE pero hindi din namin matanggap na mag solicit ka sa isang private company at kukuha ka ng teacher item sa field at gawin mong EA sa central office. Hindi pwede yan. May papel yan,” she added

Services unhampered

Duterte also assured the public that the work and services at the Office of the Vice President will remain unhampered regardless of the budget allocation for the Fiscal Year 2025.

After terminating the plenary debate on Wednesday, the Committee on Appropriations at the Lower House slashed the OVP budget down from P2.037 billion to P733 million .

“Definitely, tutuloy pa rin ang trabaho ano man ang budget ng Office of the Vice President,” she said.