by Diego Morra
After deluding herself that the House of Representatives would not proceed with impeaching her after its Supreme Court (SC) debacle last year, Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio finally heard it loud and clear that the House justice panel found the impeachment complaints against her were sufficient in form and substance despite the efforts of some lawmakers aligned with her to mount an effete legal trapeze to prevent the case from advancing.
The entire trouble with Sara and his purportedly extraordinary squads of lawyers is that they had an entire year to debunk the allegations lodged against her but failed to do so. At the House hearing, some lawmakers questioned why Sara was being impeached for the P12-billion in disallowances at the Department of Education (DepEd) as well as the billions wasted for the acquisition of computers, laptops and other equipment. A former law dean argued she could not be impeached for those shenanigans since the DepEd secretary is not an impeachable office. Yet, he is liable for plunder and, in fact, she has been charged for corruption before the Office of the Ombudsman.
Count in the misogynistc aside from Quezon Crty Rep. Bog Suntay about concupiscence and natural Viagra combining upon seeing Anne Curtis and reducing Sara’s threats to kill Bongbong Marcos and his wife Lisa and former Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez as a mere joke, a palipad-hangin commonly dished out in drunken revelry at Davao City’s Piapi, and one knows immediately that precious time is being wasted on defending the indefensible. Add to the mix the senseless prattle of Marcoleta’s son to oust Kiko Aquino Dee from the venue out of fear that he would protest and one sees that the House was being generous to a solon who is not a member of the panel but who demands the ouster of an observer. The young Marcoleta’s father did the same last year when he threatened to cite in contempt a lawyer with whom he clashed. The elder Marcoleta was also not a member of the committee and should have had himself kicked out for the committee to maintain its integrity.
It is a pity that these lawmakers took the cudgels for Sara, who has dismissed the impeachment was not a priority to her as she was busy, while preaching that the lesson of EDSA was for citizens to stand up for what is right. Among those defending her is lawyer Michael Poa, who admitted during congressional hearings that Sara was giving envelopes to DepEd officials. Poa saw it as generosity, even if it really meant that the recipients must follow her directives. Gloria Mercado even produced the envelopes that contained the money. In other countries, that would have compelled the police to take over, haul her to the nearest precinct and slapped with bribery charges. A perp walk would have been a huge photo op.
To prove that Sara amassed wealth during her tenure as Davao City mayor and as vice president, Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon presented copies of her statements of liabilities and net worth (SALNs) since 2008. Sara had a net worth of P18 that year and her SALN in 2024 confirmed her wealth rose to P88.5 million. Under the rules of impeachment, public officials cannot invoke privacy laws to hide their SALNs, which are public documents. Ridon justified his presentation as Duterte partisans groaned. “We are stating it for the record because this is the precise wording of the Corona articles of impeachment which had proceeded to the Senate and had resulted in a conviction. It is very clear that this is the process that we have to undertake and what the endorsers would want to undertake,” he added.
Once Sara’s bank records are produced at the behest of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (ALMC), prosecutors may very well prove that billions passed through her accounts, including one held jointly with her father Rodrigo. For many years, former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV had been accusing Rodrigo and Sara for having no less than P2-billion in their bank accounts, a fact that a former official of the Office of the Ombudsman confirmed. The same official was fired during Rodrigo’s administration. In Sara’s impeachment case, she is spinning the incredible theory that she spent the P125-million in confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) in the last 11 days of 2022 precisely to abide by the rule that the money must be spend within the calendar year or else it must be returned to the national treasury.
As a lawyer, Sara should know that she was not entitled to CIF since she was operating on the basis of the Leni Robredo budget for 2022, and there was zero budget for CIF of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) since 2016. Former executive secretary Lucas Bersamin explained that what Sara got was money from the Contingent Fund (CF). She is accountable for every single centavo of it, Bersamin argued. In her usual facile way, Sara insists that being confidential in nature, the CIF cannot be disclosed. The excuse is simple and terribly wrong, indicating that for the many years she had enjoyed billions in CIF in Davao City, she apparently did not account for the money. Intelligence funds are covered by a whole slew of rules by the Commission on Audit (COA) and the agencies disbursing the money. Even the military and the Philippine National Police (PNP) are duty-bound to explain where their intelligence funds go. Sara cannot be treated differently.
Sara’s lawyers have their work cut out for them. They are up against a chamber that punished themselves by confronting Sara, who questioned Quad committee members, labeling former ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro as a “criminal” and demanding that the vice chairperson of the committee inhibit herself from the proceedings. She did not only disrespect the chamber; she also questioned the propriety of the legislature acting as her “inquisitor.” Apparently, none of her consultants lectured her that both chambers of Congress have plenary powers and may launch investigations to safeguard public finance, eliminate abuses and even push criminal proceedings.#
