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KWEBA ni BAROK

Clean Hands, Dirty Roads: Sara Duterte’s Sermon on Budget Purity Meets Her Own Mayoral Shopping Spree

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Louis ‘Barok’ Biraogo

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Clean Hands, Dirty Roads: Sara Duterte’s Sermon on Budget Purity Meets Her Own Mayoral Shopping Spree
From Pulpit to Pork Barrel: How the Vice President’s Anti-Insertion Crusade Collides with Her Billion-Peso Wish List

By Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — December 31, 2025

KARON, the Philippine political circus never disappoints, does it? Just when you think the Duterte clan has exhausted every trick in their playbook of brazen plunder, a fresh leak from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) crypt—courtesy of the late Undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral’s lingering specter—haunts the halls of pork barrel paradise. Vice President Sara Duterte, that self-anointed paragon of fiscal purity, now stands accused of shoving her mayoral mitts into the 2020 national budget for a cool P1 billion in “requested” road projects while daddy dearest Rodrigo sat on the Malacañang throne. But it’s not just her—brother Paolo’s P51 billion haul, Harry Roque’s cameo requests, and Bong Go’s contractor cronies all dance in this macabre family reunion of fiscal favoritism (Politiko, 28 Dec. 2025). As your humble dissector from the Kweba, I’ll carve this scandal like a holiday lechon: slowly, savoring every hypocritical squeal and legal loophole. No mercy, no balance—just the raw, rotting truth served with a side of satire. Because in this theater of thieves, the only thing “inserted” more than projects is the knife in the back of Filipino taxpayers.

“Sermon ticket price: one billion pesos—coins only, no transparency accepted.”

The Hypocrisy Gauntlet: Sara’s “Clean Hands” Covered in Budget Grease

Hayy, Sara, Sara—how the mighty moralizer has fallen. There she is, in 2025, thundering from her Vice Presidential perch about the sanctity of the budget, decrying insertions as if they were the devil’s own handiwork. Yet rewind to 2019, when she was Davao City’s iron-fisted mayor, and what do we find? A laundry list of 16 road projects, magically manifesting in the DPWH’s 2020 lineup, totaling a billion pesos that could have paved half the archipelago but instead prioritized her familial fiefdom. This isn’t just irony; it’s a full-blown farce. How does one square the circle of sanctimonious scolding with a history of “requests” that scream entitlement? Simple: you don’t. Sara’s “clean hands” defense crumbles like a poorly constructed Davao flyover under the weight of her own contradictions.

Feast on this: While other mayors begged for scraps through the Regional Development Councils or the Investment Coordination Committee, Sara waltzed in with her presidential pedigree, turning a polite ask into a billion-peso windfall. The hypocrisy isn’t subtle—it’s spotlighted in the DPWH leaks, where her name rubs elbows with brother Paolo’s obscene P51 billion from 2020-2022. She postures as the anti-corruption avenger now, but back then? She was the eager beneficiary of a system she helped perpetuate. Let’s mock the absurdity: If Sara’s hands are clean, then the national treasury is a spotless vault, and we’re all just hallucinating the ghosts of plundered funds. No, Madam Vice President, you can’t preach fiscal virginity after a decade-long orgy of allocations. Your moral posturing is as convincing as a politician’s promise—transparent only in its emptiness.

The “Insertion” Illusion: When a Duterte “Request” Becomes a Royal Decree

Karon, the semantic sleight-of-hand: “It wasn’t an insertion; it was a request!” Cue the eye-rolls from every Filipino who’s ever navigated bureaucratic hell. In the real world, a mayor from a remote province submits a project wish list and prays it survives the National Expenditure Program’s (NEP) meat grinder. But when the requester is Sara Duterte, daughter of the sitting President, that “request” morphs into a command faster than you can say “nepotism.” The DPWH leaks expose this illusion: 16 road projects, slipped into the 2020 General Appropriations Act (GAA) as line items, bypassing the transparent prioritization that mere mortals endure. Compare that to a random mayor—who’d need divine intervention to score even a fraction. For Sara? It’s as easy as a family dinner chat.

Scorch the legalistic hair-splitting: Defenders will whine that it’s not technically an “insertion” if it’s pre-enactment and legislator-sponsored. Nonsense. In the Duterte ecosystem, power dynamics turn whispers into mandates. The process? A farce where the executive’s NEP gets Congress’s rubber stamp, especially when the requester’s last name opens doors like a master key. This isn’t democracy; it’s dynastic dictation. The illusion shatters when you connect the dots: Sara’s “requests” in 2019 align perfectly with the administration’s timeline of favoritism, turning the budget into a personal slush fund. If this is just “standard procedure,” then why the disproportionate Davao deluge? Because in Duterteland, a request from royalty isn’t optional—it’s ordained.

The Ecosystem of Plunder: From Family Feasts to Crony Carvings

This isn’t a solo act; it’s a symphony of siphoning conducted by the Duterte orchestra. Sara’s P1 billion is merely the appetizer to Paolo’s P51 billion main course, dished out from 2020-2022 in flood control follies that Cabral herself flagged before her untimely exit. Throw in Harry Roque’s cameo requests—because why not let the presidential mouthpiece munch on the trough?—and Bong Go, the senator-contractor hybrid who somehow juggles public service with private profits. The DPWH leaks paint a vivid picture: a systemic, family-and-crony operated budget capture scheme that transformed the national purse into a Davao-centric ATM.

Connect the dots across timelines: From 2016’s Duterte ascent, the administration’s “pattern of budget manipulation lacking transparency” wasn’t a bug—it was the feature. Projects ballooned without competitive bidding, audits were afterthoughts, and funds flowed to allies like Roque (ever the loyal lapdog) and Go (whose construction ties scream conflict). This is plunder as a business model: Executive influence inserts projects pre-GAA, Congress nods along, and Commission on Audit (COA) reports gather dust.

“Plunder, but make it subscription: auto-renewed every fiscal year, charged straight to your grandchildren.”

Eviscerate the hypocrisy—while the nation grappled with poverty and pandemics, the Dutertes built their empire on taxpayer tab. It’s not coincidence; it’s conspiracy, with Sara’s mayoral maneuvers as the opening act in a decade of deliberate diversion. The ecosystem thrives on opacity, where “requests” from the powerful eclipse national needs, leaving other regions to drown in neglect.

Legal Evisceration: Laws as Scalpels, Dutertes as the Cadaver

Let’s weaponize the law, shall we? This isn’t about reciting statutes; it’s about wielding them like a surgeon’s blade to expose the festering wounds.

Start with Republic Act No. 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act)—Section 3(e) nails “undue injury” to the government and “unwarranted benefits” to private parties. Did Davao City snag a disproportionate bonanza while other regions starved? Absolutely. Sara’s P1 billion “requests” inflicted injury by distorting priorities—funds that could have bolstered healthcare or education rerouted via manifest partiality. And Paolo’s P51 billion? That’s not benefit; that’s bounty, unwarranted and egregious.

Invoke the ghost of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) from Belgica v. Ochoa: The Supreme Court gutted legislative post-enactment meddling for breeding patronage and opacity. Philosophically, executive insertions—like Sara’s mayoral maneuvers—spawn the same demons: funds funneled by lineage, not logic, warping national priorities into family perks. It’s PDAF reincarnated, minus the pork label.

Hammer Republic Act No. 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees): Violations of “professionalism,” “justness,” and “neutrality” abound. Leveraging daddy’s presidency to hoard billions for your city? That’s not neutral; it’s nepotistic narcissism. Sara’s actions scream impropriety, turning public office into a private pipeline. These aren’t abstract breaches—they’re the legal scaffolding for accountability, if only the system had spine enough to enforce them.

Prosecution Pathways: The Fantasy League of Philippine Justice

In a just world, prosecution would be swift and savage. But this is the Philippines, where justice is a spectator sport. Satirically, let’s outline the “potential” avenues, knowing they’ll likely fizzle in the fog of politics.

  • The Office of the Ombudsman: That bastion of “independence”? More like a punchline. File under RA 3019, watch them probe Sara’s requests for partiality—only to see cases stall amid alliances. A surprise conviction? As likely as a politician returning change.
  • COA: Praise their disallowances, like the ones flagging Paolo’s floods as phantom fiascos. These reports are smoking guns, but enforcement? A mournful joke—surcharges issued, appeals endless, recovery rare.
  • Congressional Inquiry: The ultimate circus tent. Allies perform outrage kabuki, the accused defy with theatrical tears. Rep. Antonio Tinio’s partisan push might unearth leaks, but expect filibusters and forgetfulness. In this fantasy league, victory means headlines, not handcuffs—because in Pinoy politics, probes are for show, not shackles.

The “Whataboutism” Shield & Political Theater: Demolishing the Defenses

  • “Everyone does it!” Sure, budget fiddling is as Filipino as adobo—but the Dutertes elevated it from vice to virtuoso theft, with scales that make predecessors blush. Brazenness isn’t equality; it’s escalation.
  • “Political Vendetta!” Tinio’s bias? Conceded. But even a broken clock is right twice a day. His partisanship doesn’t vaporize the DPWH documents or Cabral’s confirmations. Evidence trumps envy.
  • “Projects were built!” Completion isn’t absolution—the crime lurks in allocation, diverting billions by bloodline, not merit. It’s like robbing a bank and claiming innocence because you spent the loot on a mansion. The theater thrives on these shields, but we won’t buy the tickets.

Call to Arms: A Manifesto for Gutting the Graft Machine

Enough with the whimpering excuses—it’s time for a reckoning.

  • Demand immediate, no-excuses investigations by the constitutionally mandated watchdogs that already exist but conveniently sleep on the job: the Commission on Audit (COA) for a full forensic audit of every single “requested” project from 2016-2022, and the Office of the Ombudsman for criminal and administrative probes into graft, undue injury, and ethical breaches. Force them—through relentless public pressure and congressional oversight—to do their damn jobs. No more hiding behind “ongoing reviews.” Full, unredacted reports to the public. No redactions, no sacred cows, no mercy.
  • Transparency now: Publish the full “Cabral Files” unbowdlerized. Name and shame every crony—Sara, Paolo, Roque, Go—let the sunlight scorch their schemes.
  • Systemic overhaul: Enact ironclad rules—no line-item largesse for the President or Vice President’s family turfs during their terms. Rip out patronage’s roots with mandatory RDC vetting and public dashboards for every peso.

Fellow Filipinos, we’ve been betrayed by the powerful who feast while we starve. This isn’t politics; it’s predation. Rise, demand accountability, or watch the Dutertes laugh all the way to the next election. The fury of the forgotten will be our prosecutor’s blade—sharp, unrelenting, and overdue. Let the evisceration begin.

The plunder never sleeps. Neither should we.

Barok out—sharp and pissed.

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Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo

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