(UPDATES) LAWMAKERS on Wednesday denied that there were moves to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte but urged her to answer questions relating to the use of the funds given to the Office of the Vice President (OVP). In the third part of an interview supplied by the OVP to members of the media, Duterte said talk regarding impeaching her was "not new," as there was open talk in the House of Representatives about a plan to file an impeachment case against her led by ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro over the use of her confidential funds and the alleged misuse of Department of Education funds. "That is why they are using it now as a basis for my impeachment," Duterte said in Filipino. "Talk of my impeachment is not new; that is part of their plan against me." But in a statement, Castro denied Duterte's claim that the bloc held meetings with Speaker Martin Romualdez regarding any impeachment moves against her. "The Makabayan bloc had no statement on September 2023 that pushes for impeachment. In fact, our statements in August and November 2023 state that any talk of impeachment is premature," Castro said in Filipino. She reiterated that in August 2023, Castro called on lawmakers to focus first on the facts regarding the P125 million confidential fund from the OVP for 2022, noting that any talk of impeachment was "premature." "VP Duterte should get her facts straight and not use rumor mongers as sources," Castro said. Castro also called on the OVP to provide a "detailed public accounting on how the P125 million in confidential funds were spent." "We hoped that Vice President Sara Duterte would use the OVP budget hearing to personally clarify her position on this sensitive issue, but she just used squid tactics to avoid answering and even boycotted the hearing yesterday," she said, adding that the possibility of impeachment remains a "logical consequence" of the evident misuse of confidential funds. "We reiterate that no legal framework permits such rapid expenditure without breaching established fiscal protocols," Castro said. Lanao Del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong also denied that there were moves to impeach Duterte. "That is not true," Adiong said. 1Rider Party-list Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez also said that any talk of impeachment did not come from the House itself but from Duterte. "We do not hear it in Congress; I can guarantee you that," Gutierrez said. Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre said that he takes offense at Duterte bringing up the accusations against lawmakers in a taped video interview. "If she has so many things to say, she should have told it in Congress when we could have made all people mentioned accountable. It is obviously an attempt to divert the issues that could have been properly treated in Congress during the appropriations committee hearing.... It is very disheartening," Acidre said.
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