Vice President Sara Duterte evaded questions about the 11-day utilization of the P125 million confidential funds by her office in 2022 during a budget hearing at the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
When Deputy Minority Leader France Castro asked about the swift and complete utilization of these funds, including a significant portion allegedly disallowed by the Commission on Audit (COA), Duterte responded by questioning the legality of discussing such matters in the context of the current budget hearing.
“The topic is the 2025 budget proposal. Now tell me, where is the confidential funds?” Duterte insisted, emphasizing that the discussion should be “germane” to the 2025 budget and not past allocations.
Castro responded that it is within the House’s parliamentary practice to review how agencies spent funds in both the current and past fiscal years as part of the budget deliberation process.
She further supported her inquiry by citing a COA report that disallowed P73 million of the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) confidential spending in 2022, labeling it “illegal” and not in accordance with joint circulars issued by COA and other related agencies.
“According to COA, the notice of disallowance amounted to P73,287,000 out of 125 (million). Since there is a notice of disallowance, that means, this (73 million) is illegal, and not in accordance with our joint circular with the COA, DBM (Department of Budget and Management), and other related agencies. If this was disallowed, its use was illegal,” Castro said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Duterte replied to Castro’s critique with a sharp rebuke, questioning why someone convicted of child abuse still holds a seat in the House of Representatives.
“Madam Chair, I do not understand, why a person convicted of child abuse is still sitting in a seat of the House of Representatives,” Duterte commented.
As the debate continued, Castro pressed further on the use of these funds, including payments for rewards and the provision of medical aid.
She cited an OVP accomplishment report, saying that part of the confidential funds was used for the provision of medical and food aid, which is also not allowed under the Joint Circular 2015-01.
“Since when did providing aid become a confidential fund? How was this 40 million possibly used for medical and food aid in 11 days?” Castro noted.
Duterte asserted that the question was not “in line” with the focus of the budget hearing, emphasizing that the discussion should be limited to the 2025 budget proposal as suggested in the invitation letter from the House.
Supporting Castro’s line of questioning, presiding chairperson Stella Quimbo referenced the letter sent to the Vice President, which outlined the topics to be discussed, including “comparative budget allocation and utilization rate from fiscal year 2019 to 2023.”
Quimbo affirmed that the inquiry into the 2022 confidential funds fell within the scope of the hearing.
“In the second paragraph, we noted the following topics to be discussed. Item number three is comparative budget allocation and utilization rate from fiscal year 2019 to 2023. That’s item number three,” the lawmaker representing the second district of Marikina City noted.
“So, I can provide you copies of the letter. So clearly, confidential funds spent in 2022 falls squarely within that,” Quimbo added.
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