Duterte supporters hold rally for VP Sara in Davao
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/24 November) — Some 1,000 supporters of Vice President Sara Duterte held a peaceful solidarity “prayer rally” at the Rizal Park here Saturday evening, November 23.
Organized by local political party Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod (HTL), a political party founded by former President Rodrigo Duterte, the rally, dubbed “We are Filipinos for Nothing,” started around 7:10 p.m., hours after Duterte and some members of the House of Representatives traded barbs.
Duterte and her Office of the Vice President (OVP) team went to the House premises on Thursday evening to visit her ailing chief of staff, Atty. Zuleika Lopez. The vice president stayed overnight at the office of her brother, Davao City first district Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte.
Rep. Joel Chua, House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability chairperson, condemned Duterte’s act, saying that she and her team “disrespected House rules for overstaying in its premises” beyond the prescribed visiting hour, which is 10 p.m.
The vice president conducted virtual press conferences there, one of which was in the wee hours of Saturday where she criticized President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez for being “incompetent.”
Duterte also furiously revealed that Romualdez “might kill her” because “he has many insecurities,” and that nothing must be worried about her security “because I already talked to someone. I told him if they kill me, kill BBM, Liza Araneta, and Martin Romualdez. No joke. I already gave my order. When I die, I said don’t stop until you kill them. And then he said, yes.”
Duterte’s team stayed in the House until Saturday morning when Lopez was rushed to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center and later transferred to St. Luke’s Medical Center.
Duterte acted as Lopez’s lawyer.
In an ANC interview, Chua said that Duterte’s lawyering and threatening Marcos’ life were “unconstitutional and can be grounds for impeachment.”
The HTL, in a Facebook post at 2:34 p.m. Saturday, rallied supporters to gather at the Rizal Park here in support of the vice president.
Most of the attendees wore black shirts bearing placards such as “Resign BBM (Bongbong Marcos Jr.)” and “We stand for the vice president,” among other similar messages.
Davao City Police Office spokesperson Hazel Tuazon told the media that there were “more or less 1,000” people attending the event, which ended around 9:30 p.m.
Duterte’s younger brother, Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte and their father, the former president and city mayor Rodrigo Duterte, did not show up at the rally.
During the rally, Vice Mayor J. Melchor Quitain Jr., a Duterte ally, cursed the national government, apparently referring to the vice president’s House press conference.
“Dili baya ko nagapamalikas… pero sa akong nakita, nakaingon ko, p*******a, unsang klaseng gobyernoha ni (I don’t usually curse, but in what I saw, I said, son of a bitc*, what is happening to this government)?” Quitain said.
He noted that the people attending the rally were not paid to attend or a “hakot crowd,” which means brought or transported to the venue.
“We are all here to support the vice president. We know that whatever is being thrown to her, she can manage them all,” Quitain said.
Aside from Lopez, the House committee also cited four OVP and Department of Education (DepEd) officials in contempt and ordered their detention for skipping five hearings on alleged fund misuse.
These are Lemuel Ortonio, OVP assistant secretary / assistant chief of staff; Gina Acosta, OVP special disbursing officer; Atty. Sunshine Charry A. Fajardo, former DepEd assistant secretary; and Edward Fajarda, former DepEd special disbursing officer.
Pulong: Lopez is surrounded by police ‘as if she is a criminal’
In a lengthy Facebook post on Saturday evening, Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte stated the “real version” of what really happened during Sara’s stay at the House.
Originally posted by pro-Duterte blogger Tio Moreno at around 3:47 p.m. in his Facebook page, Rep. Duterte reposted a chronology of events, including the nine House personnel who entered Lopez’s room to transfer her to the Correctional Institution for Women, a prison facility in Mandaluyong City, but Lopez declined to cooperate with them.
He said Lopez was being forcibly transferred to a correctional facility despite her temporary detention, leading to a standoff where her lawyers were not allowed to defend her.
It was then that the vice president intervened and acted as Lopez’s lawyer to defend her rights, he added.
He said the situation escalated when Lopez suffered a medical emergency after she became “unresponsive and displayed deadweight.”
When she was being sent to the hospital, Lopez was surrounded by around 100 police personnel, as if she is a criminal, before she was safely transported, the first district representative said.
“When transferring her, the police insisted that she be transported in their ambulance and accompanied only by their personnel, which the patient refused,” Duterte said.
In a separate statement on Saturday, Rep. Duterte said “whether it’s a fisherman, a farmer, or even the vice president of the Philippines, my office is open to those who have a valid and meaningful reason for using it.”
He also said that his office is an “open office” as it is a space owned and paid for by the Filipino people. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
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