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| Vice President Sara Duterte |
Vice President Sara Duterte
announced today she was running for president in 2016, confirming what she has
been hinting at over several years.
"Ako si Sara Duterte,
tatakbo bilang Pangulo ng Pilipinas (I'm Sara Duterte, running as president of
the Philippines)," she said in a prepared speech.
She brushed aside fears that
her early announcement would jinx her candidacy, as what happened to then Vice President
Jejomar Binay, who declared he was running for president five years before the
election, which was won by Duterte’s father, Rodrigo.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
“... this administration
had already been destroying my name for a long time," she said in
Filipino.
She also apologized for helping get her former ally and running mate, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., elected. "I'm sorry if I helped elect BBM as President of the Philippines," Duterte said.
President Marcos answered,
through Palace press officer Claire Castro, with “Good luck.”
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Castro said Marcos was “smiling”
when he made the remark.
Gabriela party-list Rep.
Sarah Elago said she believes that Duterte’s announcement was intended to be a
distraction from the impeachment complaints filed against her.
“VP Sara Duterte should
first face corruption issues against her.
She’s just a VP now but the corruption of confidential and intelligence
funds is already staggering; what more if she is in the highest position in the
government, it might just worsen,” Elago added.
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| Basahin ang detalye! |
“It may also be a desperate
attempt to divert attention away from the real issue, that is, the questionable
use of the confidential and intelligence funds of the OVP and the DepEd budget,
the use of fake names, as well as the disregard for the process of checks and
balances regarding accountability, like explaining how public funds were spent,”
she added.
Meanwhile, a fourth
impeachment complaint has been filed against Duterte before the House of
Representatives.
Lawyer Nathaniel Cabrera filed
the complaint at the Office of House Secretary General Cheloy Garafil tonight, citing
her threats against ranking officials including President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.,
the alleged misuse of confidential funds (CF), non-declaration of her assets,
abuse of power, bribery of officials, and others.
Cabrera segregated the
grounds for impeachment against Duterte into three categories: culpable
violation of the 1987 Constitution, betrayal of public trust, graft and
corruption, bribery, and other high crimes.
The fourth complaint
contains similarities with the first three complaints, which also tackled the
CF misuse issue, Duterte’s threats, and the alleged bribery of Department of
Education officials.
