By Omar Fernando

DAVAO CITY – Vice President Sara Duterte bares her bold stand against House Speaker Romualdez, standing firm in her decision to boycott the ongoing hearing of the Committee on Good Governance and Public Accountability.

In a fiery press conference past midnight Saturday, she called out some House members' scandals and questionable characters, refusing to participate in a system lacking trust and credibility.

“First, I did not vote for Martin Romualdez as Congressman. If I’m from Tacloban, I’m also not voting for him. I do not give him my trust and confidence as a Congressman,” Duterte said.

She added that the Speaker has no moral obligation to dictate to her what to do.

She also made it clear that if one person was interested in killing her, it would be Speaker Romualdez.

“I knew him, from the short time na nagkasama kami. I’m a good judge of character. I’m no psychologist, but that man has so much baggage and insecurities in his life,” Duterte said.

She also enumerated the other reasons why she will continue to skip the committee hearings at the House with considerations and valid reasons.

“Why should I answer to a Speaker implicated in a bribery case, on record, in a court case?” Duterte said.

She added that she would also not answer to a House member who was convicted of trafficking of children case, referring to ACT Teachers party-list France Castro.

“She was convicted of a child abuse case where she took Indigenous People children from Davao to Manila,” Duterte said.

The Vice President also noted that one of the members of the committee has a standing P9 million debt to her husband’s law firm.

Another member, she added, has his father sending text messages asking for forgiveness for what his son is doing against the Vice President.

“Alam n’yo hindi pa umabot sa buhay ko na nag-sorry ang tatay ko sa ginawa ko. Pero this member of the House of Representatives, tini-tex ako ng tatay, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’” Duterte said.

She said the rule of the House is constantly changing and unconstitutional.

“Unconstitutional yong rules nila. They interchange persons and witnesses. They interchange inquiry and investigation,” VP Sara said.

The House, she said, has no investigatory and prosecutorial powers as all actions should be performed in aid of legislation.

The House members are also obliged to respect the rights of persons appearing in these committee hearings in aid of legislation, she added.

“But hindi na natin nakikita yon doon ngayon. Kung ano-ano na lang ang gusto nilang sabihin, defamation ng pagkatao ng mga uma-attend, walang rules as they go along (we don't see that there anymore. Whatever they want to say, defamation of the character of those who attend, no rules),” Duterte said.

The visibly irked Vice President was staying at the office of her brother, Rep. Paolo Duterte, in the same building where her Chief of Staff, Atty Zuleika Lopez, was being detained.

Lopez was cited in contempt and detained for five days during the sixth hearing of the good government panel on November 20 for being allegedly intellectually dishonest about Duterte's purported mishandling of confidential funds while serving as vice president and former education secretary.

Duterte was further incensed by the transfer order issued by the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, which directed Lopez to be sent to the Correctional Institute for Women, typically reserved for convicts.

House personnel also exacerbated the situation by refusing to transport Lopez to the hospital after she collapsed from severe back pain and vomiting.