Madriaga 'cannot weave a believable lie,' says Sara

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte lashed out at her alleged bagman after his testimony at the justice committee of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, saying that he "cannot even weave a believable lie," In his testimony, Ramil Madriaga said that a former professor of Duterte, lawyer Ryan Quilala, told him that she was "struggling with her academics" and she was "habitually rude and violent to other students." He also claimed that Quilala used his influence in San Sebastian College-Recoletos to ensure that Duterte received passing grades despite her poor academic performance. But in a strongly-worded statement on Wednesday, Duterte said that she took issue with the claims of Madriaga, whom she described as a "bar flunker and a kidnapping suspect." "I completed my studies on my own terms. I placed a higher premium on living a well-rounded life rather than pursuing academic excellence. I never asked any professor for special accommodation for my grades because the bare minimum was easy enough to meet. I was never the subject of any complaint for rudeness or violence against other students at SSC-R College of Law," Duterte said. The vice president received her law degree in May 2005. She also reiterated that she passed the September 2005 bar exams with a general weighted average of 80, five points above the minimum passing grade. Duterte said that Madriaga and his cohorts at the House "do not come close to my capacity to achieve results with very little effort because they cannot even weave a believable lie, much less follow the rule of law," "This mini-trial in the Committee on Justice is true to form for some of its members: abuse and corruption appear to be the only things they are capable of," Duterte said. She also said that the failure of the Marcos administration to provide relief int this crisis of prices was not due to "lack of resources, but because public funds are being used for political maneuvering to avoid accountability for the most corrupt budget in our country’s history."

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