MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday asserted that there’s “nothing irregular” about her office’s spending of P125 million in confidential funds (CFs) in 2022.
In a statement, she said the amount had been liquidated and reports on its expenditure have been submitted to the appropriate agencies.
Duterte’s remarks came after the House committee on appropriations swiftly terminated the hearing on the proposed P2.3 billion budget of the Office of the Vice President for 2024 that included a P500 million allocation for intelligence and confidential funds — to the outcry of the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives who came prepared to grill the Vice President over the P125 million secret funds.
FILE PHOTO: Vice President Sara Duterte. Photo lifted from Inday Sara Duterte Facebook page
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“For the 2022 CF in the amount of P125 million, the OVP has already planned and identified events, activities, and projects to be covered by the CF as early as August. There was nothing irregular or unauthorized about its spending and the required liquidation and accomplishment reports have been submitted to the oversight agencies,” Duterte said.
However, she did not specify the activities or programs where the P125 million was spent in her statement.
READ: Sara Duterte seeks P2.3B OVP budget for 2024, including P500M intel fund
Duterte also urged the Makabayan bloc to “end its rabid vilification of OVP over the 2022 CF if it doesn’t have any substantive information to back up imputations of misuse.”
The Makabayan bloc has been claiming that Duterte may have realigned funds in the 2022 OVP budget because confidential funds were never included in the OVP’s budget that year.
It noted that it was crafted during the term of former vice president Leni Robredo. In her six-year term, Robredo never requested or included confidential funds in her office budget.
“These incessant malicious attacks betray the Makabayan bloc’s lack of respect for the Filipinos being served by OVP and their inability to appreciate OVP’s involvement in the fight against insurgency, terrorism, and social inequality,” she said.
READ: OVP insists: ‘Confidential fund has been utilized appropriately’
Duterte, at the same time, thanked the House committee on appropriations for its continued support.
“Today’s budget deliberations allowed the OVP to present the significant strides that we have made in 2022 – highlighted by the establishment of the 10 Satellite Offices and two Extension Offices in key areas of the country,” she noted.
READ: House panel ends OVP budget talks in under 20 minutes; Makabayan objects