VICE President Sara Duterte did not confirm or deny that she visited jailed former congressman Arnolfo Teves Jr. at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City. In a press briefing in Davao City on Thursday, Duterte also stressed she does not know Ramil Madriaga who claims to be her bagman when she was campaigning for the vice presidency in 2022. In his affidavit, Madriaga said he received money from a gambling operator to fund Duterte’s run, and confidential funds from former Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group chief Col. Raymund Lachica. Lachica has denied the allegation. Madriaga also claimed that the vice president visited him at Camp Bagong Diwa. Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said it was Teves, not Madriaga, that Duterte visited. Teves has been accused of masterminding the killing of former Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo and several others in Pamplona, Negros Oriental, in 2023. “I will never confirm or deny, They could speak about it, but I am saying, I don’t know Ramil Madriaga,” Duterte said. She also refused to comment on how many times she visited Teves in the facility. Duterte brushed off Madriaga’s claim as propaganda that is designed to smear her if ever she decides to run for president in 2028. Teves’ lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, said that it was “reprehensible” that Madriaga’s lawyer, Raymond Palad, would resort to “such deliberate inexactitude” exploited the visit of Duterte to boost the “preposterous claims” of Madriaga, who he described as a “dubious and nefarious character.” “Even though I am not representing the vice president, any lawyer worth his salt, or even any layman for that matter, can readily see that the affidavit of Madriaga is nothing but a crock of bull. Mr. Palad knows this, thus he himself has to invent stories to shore up his client’s fairy tales. In so doing, he dragged my client into an issue where he had absolutely no involvement,” Topacio said. Duterte also said that any possible move to file an impeachment case against her in 2026 is just “tiring” for the country, since there is no evidence to back the accusations against her. The vice president also refused to send the customary Christmas message to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., saying that he will never change even if she gave him a message. “In the same vein, would I change my demeanor if it’s Christmas or not? So I don’t want to greet him yesterday, which is not yet Christmas, more so I won’t greet him today,” Duterte said. Asked about her reaction to the death of former Public Works undersecretary Maria Catalina Cabral, Duterte said her death will affect the mental wellness of the undersecretaries and assistant secretaries in different departments. “Those who became part of the anomalies will now think if they will fall themselves in the ravine as well,” she said. The vice president also said she is “sad” that this is their first Christmas without her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, who is detained in The Hague after being arrested by the International Criminal Court (ICC). “But I am happy as I was given the chance to have a one on one talk with my father for one and a half hours,” Duterte said.