By Leonardo Micua

 

WITH all those hard as granite accusations thrown at VP Sara Duterte, an ordinary human being would have easily crashed and crumbled.

But not the VP. She’s fighting back with steel-like nerves and a heart of stone, and despite her bruises, if you can call it that, is in no mood to surrender or kiss her quest for the presidency in 2028 goodbye.

She even welcomes the two impeachment complaints filed against her before the House of Representatives — a 3rd may be coming — and shrugs off threats by groups to file a possible plunder case against her for alleged misuse of the P612.5 million confidential and intel funds in the OVP as well as in the Department of Education when she was its secretary.

The House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, in its summation report released a few days ago, raised the potential cases of plunder, graft and corruption, technical malversation, falsification, perjury, bribery and other serious offenses that may also involve some of her trusted confidants in the OVP and DepEd.

Some believe she may survive the impeachment complaints but considering the weight of all the accusations leveled against her and the evidence so far presented during the HOR hearings, she could be in real trouble.

No amount of rallies by her supporters in Manila and in Davao could change the facts unearthed by the committee led by Rep. Joel Chua.

Nor is the AFP turning its back on PBBM in response to another call of VP Sara’s father, former President Digong Duterte, to switch sides and let the spare tire take over as presidential immunity is seen as the only way possible for the VP to escape all the potential prosecution.

The next few days will be crucial for the country before the House representatives take their Christmas break.

Clearly, there is no more time left for the lawmakers to act on those complaints and in the event they elevate those complaints to the Senate, trial will take time and could be overtaken by the campaign period for the 2025 election.

The report that Iglesia Ni Cristo may hold a rally in support of PBMM’s call stopping Sara’s impeachment has not taken place and may not take place after all, which means the INC move could just be a figment of imagination of some people.

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If Dagupan City has not moved forward from being a second-class independent component city of Pangasinan, it was due to the lack of foresight and sense of professionalism by the former controlling majority in the Sangguniang Panlungsod. 

Recall that the seven opposition councilors of Dagupan insanely legislated an annual budget of just some P600 million for the city in 2023, which was only good for a third class municipality.

That’s what the seven pea-brained lawmakers wanted Dagupan to become — a third class municipality that will shed off its independent component status and revert back under Pangasinan’s administration. 

 That’s a big insult to all of us Dagupeños and our elders who worked hard for Dagupan to attain its cityhood in 1947. 

 If the Department of Budget and Management did not declare the opposition-sponsored budget as not valid in its entirety, they would have succeeded in demoting Dagupan to just an ordinary town.

  And when their trick did not work, they even wanted Dagupan to just survive on the limited re-enacted budget for the whole year of 2023. 

 They continuously questioned the passage of the 2023 annual budget till November 2024 when all the amount set in that appropriation ordinance had already been spent for salaries and wages of workers, and programs and projects. 

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There was a report that the Girl Scouts of the Philippines’ chapter in Pangasinan is going through a nightmare because it is being asked by the provincial government to vacate its building and move to a container van. Yes, a container van.

It is because the GSP building will be demolished to give way to the construction of a multi-story corporate building that will be financed by a multi-billion peso loan taken by the Guico administration from the Land Bank of the Philippines.

The GSP chapter is reportedly asking that it be provided a new building of its own within the premises of the provincial capitol that has the same, if not better, facilities as their present location.

Otherwise, they will reportedly stand in the way of Guico’s corporate building, and let the court decide their fate.

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