VICE President Sara Duterte’s decision not to request confidential funds under the Executive’s proposed national budget for 2025 is an “empty gesture” because the Office of the Vice President (OVP) has no right to seek funds of such nature in the first place, Rep. France Castro (PL, ACT) said yesterday.
“Why should she request for confidential funds when her office is not mandated to have such funds? Besides, she is just afraid that Congress will again take it away along with other civilian agencies that are not mandated for confidential funds,” she said.
Duterte, who quit as Education secretary on June 17, disclosed her decision on Saturday on the sidelines of an event in Cebu City.
Castro, a member of the militant Makabayan bloc at the House, reminded the Vice President that her office still has unresolved issues regarding her previous use of confidential funds worth P125 million in just 11 days in 2022.
“Also up till now she has not satisfactorily explained the P125 million confidential funds she illegally acquired and spent in 11 days in 2022. She also has to account how she spent her confidential funds in 2023,” said the deputy minority leader.
Duterte has long been defending her use of the P125 million confidential and intelligence funds (CIF), saying the allocation of confidential funds “should not be constrained by time.”
Last October, Duterte said critics of the OVP’s used of confidential funds are “enemies of the state.” She slammed critics who are questioning her use of confidential funds, saying “anyone who attacks or undermines funds allocated for peace and order is naturally assumed to have insidious motivations.”
Former president Rodrigo Duterte, the Vice President’s father, has been attacking the administration over various issues, including Charter change and Congress’ move to strip the OVP of its confidential and intelligence funds which lawmakers realigned to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and other agencies at the forefront of protecting the country’s territorial integrity in the West Philippine Sea.
The realignment under the P5.768 trillion national budget for 2024 augmented funding for the PCG, the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, the National Security Council (NSC) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
Castro, an activist teacher-turned-lawmaker, said the younger Duterte’s move “does not absolve her of responsibility for past actions.”
“Kaya huwag niyang ipagmalaki na hindi siya nag-request ng confidential funds sa susunod na budget, (That’s why she should not boast that she didn’t request for confidential funds under the next budget). She is not off the hook yet,” she said.
Castro called for a thorough investigation into the use of confidential funds by the OVP and other civilian agencies, emphasizing the need for transparency and accountability in government spending.
