Latest news with #JoelChua
GMA Network
10-07-2025
- Politics
- GMA Network
House prosecutor after VP Sara says she'll address confi funds: Why only now?
"Sana noong committee hearing, pinaliwanag na nila at hindi na humaba nang ganito yung issue tungkol sa confidential fund. So why only now?" Manila Rep. Joel Chua, one of the House's impeachment prosecutors, asked. File photo "Why only now?" House impeachment prosecutor Joel Chua, congressman for Manila's 3rd District, asked this question after Vice President Sara Duterte said she will address the issue of supposed confidential funds misuse during the impeachment trial. "It's a good thing na at least mapapaliwanag na nila. Dahil matagal na naman na natin inaantay yung paliwanag nila," Chua said. "Sana noong committee hearing, pinaliwanag na nila at hindi na humaba nang ganito yung issue tungkol sa confidential fund. So why only now?" he added. (It's a good thing because at least they will be able to explain it. Because we have been waiting for their explanation for a long time. If only they had explained it during the committee hearing, then we wouldn't have ended up at this point.) The vice president also said she will answer the allegations in public in case there will be no trial. In response to Duterte's ally Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa's saying he will question the jurisdiction of the Senate in the 20th Congress over the Articles of Impeachment that were transmitted during the 19th Congress, Chua said, "Irerespeto natin kung anuman ang ninanais ni ating butihing senador, Senator Bato dela Rosa. Sana nga lang ito ay ginagawa nila nang walang kinikilingan." (We respect whatever the good senator wishes to do. We just hope that it is done without favor to anyone.) The impeachment prosecutor also maintained that the 20th Congress has jurisdiction over the Articles of Impeachment. "Ako po naniniwala mayroon po jurisdiction dahil sinasabi ko nga po at ito po yung aming stand, na ito po nga Senate ay continuing body. At yun po ay mananatiling stand po namin," Chua explained. (I believe there is jurisdiction because, and this is our stand, the Senate is a continuing body. And that will continue to be our stand.) He also issued a challenge to the vice president and her supporters. "Kung sila po ay naniniwala na wala naman pong masamang ginawa, ito po yung pagkakataon para malinis po yung pangalan ng impeachable officer," Chua said. (If they believe that they have done nothing wrong, then this is their opportunity to clear the name of the impeachable officer.) Chua also said that the unmodified opinion given by the Commission Audit to the Office of the Vice President for the year 2024 does not mean there were no irregularities. "Iba naman po yung nilalabas po nila ngayon kaysa sa dati. So tingnan na lang po natin dahil unang-una po, yung issue po nung yung mga dokumento po na galing po sa amin, at yung nag-issue po sa kanila ng notice of disallowance ay galing din sa COA," Chua said. (What they are putting out now is different from what was before. So let's look into it because, first of all, the issue of the documents is from us, and the notice of disallowance they received is also from COA.) "Dahil tinanong din po namin sa committee hearing ang COA, doon sa committee hearing ng Committee on Appropriations na bakit sila nagiging, kung anong ibig sabihin ng notice of disallowance. So sinasabi nga po nila, meron daw problema sa paggamit," he added. (We asked COA during the committee of appropriations hearing what the notice of disallowance meant, and they said they had problems with the fund use [of the OVP].) Chua also reiterated that the House Prosecution Panel has a strong case. "Hindi lang naman ang issue sa impeachment ay hindi lang naman naka-focus sa confidential funds. Marami pong issue na nakalahad po sa iba't ibang articles po ng impeachment complaint," he stressed. (The issue of impeachment is not just focused on the confidential funds. There are a lot of issues laid out in the articles of the impeachment complaint.) — BM, GMA Integrated News
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Posts misrepresent Philippine vice president's election rally footage
"Sara Duterte humiliated by the people of Manila. They thumbed down Sara, and shouted 'Marcos! Marcos! Marcos!'," reads part of the Tagalog-language caption to the video shared on April 26. The clip -- which has been viewed over 470,000 times -- shows Vice President Sara Duterte on a stage campaigning for several local candidates in Manila on April 25. She can be heard saying, "I need to mention your congressman here in this district. He is an example of how we vote automatically for those who are popular, endorsed by someone popular, came from a family of politicians or [as I said earlier] 'that's a Duterte, let's vote for that person'." "You know that congressman of yours? That Joel Chua?" The crowd reacts and shouts a name repeatedly. Chua led the House of Representatives committee that scrutinised Duterte's alleged misuse of millions of dollars in public funds, one of the accusations that led to her impeachment in February (archived link). He is also a member of the prosecution in the vice president's forthcoming Senate trial that could remove her from office and bar her from future government posts (archived link). Chua will run against two other candidates -- Ramon Morales and Johanna Nieto -- in Manila's third district in the mid-term elections. The relationship between Duterte and President Ferdinand Marcos is at a nadir, their former alliance giving way to a months-long public battle that has seen wild accusations traded, including an alleged plot to assassinate Marcos, the first lady, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez (archived link). The video also spread widely alongside the same claim on TikTok and on Instagram. But the crowd did not chant Marcos's name. A review of a three-hour footage of the election rally streamed live by local news organisation Rappler shows Duterte enumerating how Filipinos should choose the most qualified candidate (archived link). At the video's 3:13:58 mark, Duterte can be heard saying the same words in the circulating clip, then the crowd can be heard shouting "Apple, Apple, Apple." The Commission on Elections's database of candidates for the mid-terms shows "Apple" is Nieto's name, who is backed by Duterte and is gunning for Chua's current post as district representative (archived link). She, along with other local candidates, can be seen onstage while Duterte was speaking. Rappler's livestream shows the crowd as it shouts beginning at the 3:14:50 mark, and people can be seen mouthing "Apple", not "Marcos". A different angle of the interaction, streamed live by another local candidate from behind Duterte, also shows the crowd chanting Nieto's nickname at the clip's 7:26 mark (archived link). Later, towards the end of Duterte's speech, at the Rappler livestream's 3:45:51 mark, Duterte called Nieto to her side. The vice president handed her an apple and told her to "shove [the fruit] down Chua's throat until he chokes to death." Other local news outlets covered this campaign rally, as well as Duterte's criticism of Chua (archived here and here). Fact-check organisation Vera Files has also debunked the claim.
