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Cristina Chi - Philstar.com
May 5, 2025 | 12:20pm
Vice President Sara Duterte holds a press conference at the Office of the Vice President in Mandaluyong City on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, days after the House of Representatives moved to impeach her.
Philstar.com / Martin Ramos
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte has branded the criminal charges against her brother, Rep. Paolo Duterte (Davao City, 1st District), as merely another political attack against her family — although she admitted she has not spoken to him about the actual allegations.
Speaking to reporters in Zamboanga on Saturday, May 3, Duterte said the complaint filed by businessman Kristone Patria in connection with Paolo's alleged bar beatdown is meant to divert attention away from the government's issues.
"Every time they have a major issue, a major blunder... Their cover for these issues is to attack their political opponents," Duterte said in Filipino during the press conference.
The vice president connected the timing of the complaint against her brother to what she described as the administration's failure to sustain its promised 20-peso per kilo rice program, which she claimed ended after just one day.
The Department of Agriculture has not stopped the program, however, and has merely deferred its implementation until after the May 12 elections. The Commission on Elections sought its temporary suspension to prevent it from being politicized.
"When their program of 20 pesos per kilo of rice [ended] — and of course, because that promise wasn't true, it was just to deceive people, they couldn't sustain it — they immediately stopped it on May 2, then this complaint against Congressman Pulong Duterte suddenly emerged," Duterte told reporters.
When asked if former President Rodrigo Duterte was aware of the allegations against his son, the vice president admitted to not having direct communication with either family member about the case.
The elder Duterte remains detained at the International Criminal Court over charges of crimes against humanity in connection with his so-called war on drugs.
"I don't know, because I haven't spoken with President Duterte yet nor with Congressman Pulong," Duterte said. "But I saw that he gave an interview outside the detention center, so maybe while he was inside, they talked about it."
The case. Duterte further claimed the complaint follows previous instances where the Marcos administration allegedly targeted her family to distract from their controversies.
The criminal complaint against Paolo Duterte stems from an alleged February 23 incident at a gastropub in Davao City, where Patria accused the congressman of inflicting physical injuries and issuing grave threats.
Video footage circulating online appears to show Duterte raising his fist at another man and allegedly threatening him with a sharp weapon, though the Philippine National Police - Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP) has yet to verify the video's authenticity.
The PNP, however, has categorically denied being involved in the leak of the alleged CCTV footage of the incident and the circulation of the affidavit of the complainant.
In a 52-second video posted on Facebook, Paolo said he is awaiting the authentication of the video and is choosing not to issue a statement for now about the complaint.
Paolo — who is running for re-election as first district representative of Davao City — also said it is up to voters to decide on who to vote for in the elections.
