HOUSE Committee on Human Rights Chairman Bienvenido “Benny” Abante on Thursday rejected claims that Vice President Sara Duterte distanced herself from the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. due to alleged corruption or government inefficiency.
“This was not a principled resignation,” said Abante. “If the Vice President truly believed the administration was corrupt or incapable of addressing the people’s problems, she had every opportunity to say so while she was inside the Cabinet. She did not.”
Abante emphasized that the Vice President was not an outsider.
“For nearly two years, she was a Cabinet member as Secretary of Education. She was part of the UniTeam mandate. She participated in policy discussions and budget processes,” the House leader said.
“If there were systemic corruption or governance failures of the magnitude now being suggested, why was there no sustained public dissent? No reform blueprint? No formal policy objections?” Abante said .
According to Abante, the political rupture coincided with congressional scrutiny over confidential and intelligence funds.
“The timeline is clear. The tension escalated when Congress exercised its constitutional power of the purse and asked questions about public funds. That is not political persecution — that is oversight,” Abante said.
“When accountability mechanisms were activated, that is when the distancing began,” he said.
Abante stressed that resignations grounded in principle typically leave documentary evidence.
“You will see memoranda of dissent, detailed reform proposals, policy critiques, or whistleblower actions. None of those preceded the break,” Abante said.
“What we saw instead was a political realignment following fiscal pushback,” he said.
Abante also noted that the breakdown occurred amid early positioning for the 2028 national elections.
“In Philippine politics, alliances shift when strategic calculations shift. Let us not confuse succession maneuvering with moral crusades,” Abante added.
“We respect the Office of the Vice President,” the House leader concluded. “But we will not allow the narrative to be reversed. The facts show this was not about corruption or inefficiency. It was about political repositioning.”
“The Filipino people deserve clarity — not convenient storytelling,” Abante added.
The post Chairman Abante: “This was not a break over corruption — It was political repositioning” appeared first on Journal News Online.
