Vice President Sara Duterte should convince her husband, lawyer Manases "Mans" Carpio, and brother, Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte, to come out and tell the truth regarding witness Jimmy Guban's allegations.
House Deputy Majority Leader Jude Acidre and House Assistant Majority Leader Jil Bongalon gave this advice to Vice President Sara Duterte even as they told her to drop her diversionary rhetoric, which does not add anything of substance to the public discourse.
"VP Sara is better off convincing her husband Mans and her brother Pulong to join the House quad-committee investigation. This will benefit her beleaguered family and the Filipino people, who, like us, want answers," said Acidre.
"We assure VP Sara that Atty. Mans and Cong. Pulong will be given the courtesies and respect due to them, given their stature. Walan
g halong pulitika ito. Pawang katotohanan lang ang pakay ng Quad-Comm," Acidre stressed.
During its hearing last Friday, the quad-comm heard testimony from former Bureau of Customs (BOC) intelligence officer Guban, who implicated former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte's son "Pulong,” his son-in-law “Mans,” and his former economic adviser Michael Yang in the smuggling of billions worth of shabu hidden in magnetic lifters at the Manila International Container Port in 2018.
"These are grave allegations. The adage, 'Don't be afraid of you having nothing to hide,' applies here,” asked Acidre.
Meanwhile, Bongalon poked holes into Vice President Duterte's retort that the timing of these "political attacks" against her family was questionable.
"If she stands by that remark, then the same can be said about her. She began to assail the Marcos administration about supposedly longstanding problems in governance, but she only did it recently with the 2025 mid-term elections fast approaching. VP was quiet about all of these in her two years with the Marcos Cabinet," Bongalon said.
"That, to me, is also suspect timing. It would go as far as to say that it is opportunistic. The bottom line is that her family members have a lot of explaining to do. They should stop insulting Filipinos by treating them like they were born yesterday," said Bongalon.
Vice President Duterte vacated her post as Department of Education (DepEd) secretary last July 19. (END)
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