Vice President Sara Duterte announced Friday she will not attend the scheduled House Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on November 20 next week regarding her confidential funds, despite receiving an invitation.
The Vice President said she plans to submit a letter explaining her absence, along with an affidavit addressing the confidential funds under oath.
“I don’t know why I was invited. They did not send me questions, but I will not attend the next hearing. Because I was there, I went there, but they did not do anything. They just let me take a seat,” Duterte said in Filipino during a press conference celebrating the 89th anniversary of the Office of the Vice President (OVP).
Duterte expressed frustration over her previous attendance at the congressional hearings, saying “it was a waste of time.”
“I was wasting my time, so I asked permission to leave. They allowed me,” she said, reflecting on her last appearance at the House of Representatives.
It was not clear if this statement was referring to the House Blue Ribbon Committee inquiry or the House Quad Committee hearing last Wednesday, Nov. 13, where she showed up to support her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte.
“We plan to send a letter, we plan to say why [I will not attend], and then I plan as well to submit an affidavit about the confidential funds. The affidavit will also be made under oath,” according to the Vice President.
