Institutional failure

Never been a fan of congressional investigations, but the current House investigations are making public things that would otherwise only be whispered about.

- BOO CHANCO

We are learning more about how Duterte conducted his murderous anti-drug war. And we are learning how Duterte's daughter is totally disrespecting the Filipino taxpayers through the way she uses public funds.

Father and daughter are both trying hard to avoid accountability. Duterte (the father) even threw under the bus the police officers he earlier reassured that he was taking responsibility for their kills. Now he is saying he is taking responsibility, but that criminal guilt is personal. In other words, the police officers are on their own when facing court cases.

Duterte's daughter, on the other hand, is hiding behind her staff officers as they face the congressional committee to answer questions on how the OVP and DepEd, under her watch, used so-called confidential funds. Her chief of staff claimed to have no knowledge of how the funds were used, even though she signed a letter to the Commission on Audit asking it not to cooperate with Congress on the inquiry.

The handling by the OVP of public funds is so despicable that you can almost see them thumbing their noses at the public to dare them to intervene. They had the temerity to fabricate a name, Mary Grace Piattos, whose supposed signature appeared in acknowledgment receipts for confidential funds from the offices held by Sara Duterte: the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and, from 2022 to 2023, the Department of Education (DepEd). Probably just to emphasize that they are making fun of us, other documents included names resembling brands like "Nova," "Oishi" and "Tempura." In other words, bastusan na.