ALLIANCE of Concerned Teachers (ACT) party-list Rep. France Castro yesterday told Vice President Sara Duterte to just answer head on the issues hounding her use of confidential funds instead of “taking ad hominem pot shots at those who question her.”
“We urge the Vice President to address the issues head on and provide complete answers to the questions posed by myself and others regarding her confidential funds. May karapatan ang mamamayan na malaman kung paano niya ginastos ang P125 million confidential fund sa loob ng 19 araw (The public has the right to know how she spent the P125 million confidential fund in 19 days),” said the Makabayan bloc lawmaker.
Castro said the questions she posed on the Office of the Vice President’s unauthorized use of P125 million in confidential funds in just 19 days in December last year “have been raised after careful study and due diligence.”
Duterte on Monday slammed her critics anew for questioning the OVP’s use of confidential funds while continuing to stonewall calls for her to explain how the fund was spent.
She said Castro and Sen. Risa Hontiveros have not really shown proof that the OVP used the confidential funds illegally.
The Vice President did not address the points raised by her critics and casually dismissed them, saying the observations were just the personal opinions and conclusions of Castro.
The militant lawmaker said she was prepared to ask questions during the House budget hearing on the OVP’s proposed budget for 2024 “but the Vice President chose to avail of the parliamentary courtesy extended her by the majority and refused to take any questions.”
Castro said the Vice President correctly pointed out that she is not a lawyer or an auditor because “I am a teacher and an elected member of the House carrying out my sworn duty to hold officials of government accountable for how they spent the people’s money.”
Meanwhile, in Davao City, Duterte said she singled out Castro and Hontiveros in her press statement last Monday “because I do not respect Ms. Castro and Ms. Hontiveros.”
“I have no respect for them,” Duterte said at the Cleanergy Park in Punta Dumalag, Matina Aplaya where she joined the Davao Light and Power Co., Inc. and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in releasing 152 critically endangered Hawksbill Turtle hatchlings to their natural habitat along the coastline of Aboitiz Cleanergy Park.
The Vice President likewise took exception to Hontiveros’ statements, saying she never once asked Congress for a special treatment.
“In fact, we respected the process doon sa (at the) budget hearing ng (of the) House of Representatives and ng (the) Senate,” she said.
Hontiveros has said that Duterte should not expect special treatment from lawmakers and should subject herself to the budgetary process and explain issues surrounding her office’s disbursement of confidential funds.
Duterte has again come under fire for the OVP’s use of P125 million in confidential funds in December last year when the OVP was not supposed to have a budget for such purpose.
The fund, it turned out, came from the Office of the President’s contingent fund, which prompted the Makabayan bloc to say that the transfer was illegal since it did not have congressional approval.
The lawmakers said that since the Executive sourced the amount from the P7 billion Contingent Fund, fund transfer to a non-existent item in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) or the national budget “may involve violations of the Constitution and other laws.”
Last week, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said the President approved the release of P221.424 million in additional Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) from the 2022 contingent fund for Vice President Sara Duterte’s new programs in 2022, which prompted Castro to demand for a copy of the OVP’s request for confidential funds during the House budget hearing on the OVP’s 2024 budget.
Bersamin said that of the amount, P96.424 million was for “financial assistance/subsidies” while P125 million was confidential funds “for newly created satellite offices” of the OVP.
