Palace hits Baste Duterte's claim impeach meant to derail Sara 2028 bid

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Monday challenged Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte’s claim that the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte was part of a three-year plan to prevent her from running in the 2028 elections.

Palace press officer Claire Castro said that if such a plan existed, the vice president should have exercised greater caution in handling the funds of the agencies under her leadership, particularly her confidential funds, which became among the issues raised in the impeachment proceedings.

READ: Palace: No ‘Oplan Romanov’ justifies assassination threat vs Marcos

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“If they really knew that this had been planned for three years, if what he is saying is true because we have not seen any evidence, then if it is indeed true, the Vice President should have been more careful in using her confidential funds, and the funds should not have been misused, particularly in relation to the ghost vouchers—let’s go back again to the issue of ghost vouchers and ghost food packs that were found by the COA],” she said during a briefing.

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Castro also brought up Vice President Duterte’s attendance at a Taylor Swift concert in Germany while the Philippines was being affected by Typhoon Carina.

“If they already knew about this, shouldn’t the Vice President have worked harder instead of constantly traveling abroad? And she also should not have left at that time when Typhoon Carina was happening, especially to watch a Taylor Swift concert,” she said.

“But still, what is being discussed here now is about transparency and accountability. There are issues that need to be answered, and this is not about preventing the Vice President from running,” she added.

Castro added that if Vice President Duterte has sufficient evidence to prove her innocence, she is free to run in the 2028 elections.

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Oplan Romanov

The Palace official also addressed Mayor Duterte’s reference to the term “Romanov,” which he mentioned during an event in Davao in January 2024. “Before you go to bed, think of the Romanovs. Maybe you will reconsider the direction that you are taking.”

“The word “Romanov” was first heard from the mouth of Mayor Baste Duterte himself in January 2024. And that was already where the threats against our President began… actually, it was started by former President Duterte, followed by Mayor Baste Duterte, and third was the Vice President — all of them threatened the life of President Marcos Jr.,” said Castro.

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The “Oplan Romanov” was the supposed justification of Vice President Duterte’s threats against Marcos, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and former Speaker Martin Romualdez.

Castro said the Duterte camp has yet to present evidence proving the existence of an “Oplan Romanov” against the vice president. /mr

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