STILL under attack due to her office’s P10 million budget request next year for the printing and distribution of her children’s book, “Isang Kaibigan,” Vice President Sara Duterte said she is now planning to write another book, this time about ruined friendships and betrayal.
“Abangan ninyo ang susunod kong isusulat na libro tungkol sa pagtataksil ng isang kaibigan (What for the next book that I’ll write, which is about a friend’s betrayal),” Duterte said in a statement on Wednesday night.
The Vice President, who ran as the running mate of President Marcos Jr. under the banner of Team Unity during the 2022 elections, has broken away from her alliance with the President and has started criticizing the administration.
She resigned as secretary of the Department of Education in June amid reports that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is poised to issue a warrant of arrest against her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, in relation to its ongoing probe on the alleged crimes against humanity committed in pursuit of the previous administration’s bloody war against illegal drugs.
While the Marcos administration has repeatedly declared that it was not cooperating with the ICC probe, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra has said that the government cannot stop ICC probers from “interviewing” persons of interest in the case, while Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the government cannot stop the ICC, through the Interpol, from arresting her father.
The Vice President on Tuesday engaged in a heated exchange with Sen. Risa Hontiveros during the budget hearings at the Senate after she accused the senator of allegedly “politicizing” the Senate’s deliberations on the proposed P2.037 billion budget of the Office of the Vice President for next year.
She made the allegation after Hontiveros asked what the book children’s book “Isang Kaibigan” is all about.
Instead of directly replying to Hontiveros’ query, Duterte accused her of politicizing the budget hearing with her questions, saying that the senator was raising questions about the project because the book, which would be distributed to young learners, would be easily available to parents who will be voting in the elections.
Hontiveros said there was nothing political with her actions, insisting that the allocation of taxpayers’ money for the printing and distribution of the Vice President’s authored book is “improper.”
The OVP on Wednesday said Duterte’s book tells the story of how a parrot helped an owl build a new nest after losing it in a storm, along with bird friends.
Rep. France Castro (PL, ACT) has also questioned why the book has a large photo of the Vice President on its last page, saying books usually only have small photos of authors on the back cover.
She said it is obvious that the book is a propaganda material of the Vice President.
Hontiveros has said government funds should not be used to further the Vice President’s personal interest and that she would move to realign the amount to other items in the proposed 2025 budget.
PLAGIARIZED?
The Vice President denied allegations online that her book was plagiarized after netizens observed the story’s similarity to an American graphic novel titled, “Owly Just a Little Blue,” written by Andy Runton.
“Napakadaling sumulat ng maikling kwento batay sa sariling karanasan, hindi na kailangang mangopya pa (It’s so easy to write short stories based on my experience, there’s no need to copy),” she said.
She said the book project is meant to help Filipino children improve their reading comprehension.
“Ang proyekto ay para mahikayat ang mga bata na mahalin ang pagbabasa at sumulat ng sarili nilang kwento. Hindi ang libro ang problema ng bayan kundi ang kahinaan sa pagbabasa ng ating kabataan (The project aims to encourage children to love reading and write their own stories. The book is not the problem but the reading comprehension of our youth),” she said.
OVP spokesperson Michael Poa said the book was copyrighted and had been registered since December 2023.
Poa said the book is not for sale, as it is meant to be distributed for free to public schools nationwide.
‘COMPLIMENTARY’
Social Welfare Rex Gatchalian, in a radio interview yesterday, said having several agencies providing social funds to assist people in need is “complimentary, not redundancy.”
Gatchalian said no single agency can accommodate and assist all those in need and a whole-of- government-approach is necessary to help poor families.
He said an agency’s budget is limited but the number of those in need is “unlimited.”
“Hindi talaga maiiwasan na merong overlap iyung aming mga mandato. Kasi may limitasyon ang kaya naming ibigay (It cannot be avoided that there would be an overlapping of mandate. There is a limitation to what we can give),” he said.
“May sarili kaming guidelines, may limit iyung kaya namin ibigay para marami kaming mapagbibigyan (We have our own guidelines, there is a limit to what we can give so we can assist a lot of people),” he added.
During Tuesday’s budget hearing. Hontiveros had questioned the OVP’s socio-economic programs, saying that these were duplications of programs of other line agencies such as the DSWD. She said she would seek the realignment of the P1.909 billion requested by the OVP for its aid programs to other offices.
The Vice President told senators that they need the funding for the programs because they assistance referrals were allegedly being rejected by the DSWD and other agencies due to politics.
Gatchalian repeated the DSWD does not discriminate against anyone or choose those who would be granted assistance because the policy of the agency is that no one is turned away or not given any assistance if they seek aid from them.
He also said that anyone who needs help are assisted whether they have referrals or not, if they are old or young, or if they have a disability or not.
Gatchalian said the DSWD is getting in touch with the OVP to get the full details of Duterte’s claim so they can investigate and determine if any infractions have been committed. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
