Senator Risa Hontiveros (left) and Vice President Sara Duterte. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
MANILA, Philippines — Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros said she’s not begging for Vice President Sara Duterte’s respect, making it clear that she just wants the latter’s accountability especially in handling public funds.
In a statement on Thursday, Hontiveros advised Duterte to simply justify where the Office of the Vice President’s funds are going to rather than resort to personal attacks.
READ: Hontiveros tells VP Duterte to justify confidential funds: ‘You’re not special’
“If you can’t respect your co-workers, you should at least respect the spending of public money. It’s been more than a week since the hearing about the confidential funds, but you have [issued more attacks] than explanations,” said Hontiveros in Filipino.
The lawmaker likewise stressed that she’s not asking for Duterte’s respect. This comes after Duterte stated that she had no respect for Hontiveros and Rep. France Castro who both questioned her office’s proposed confidential funds allocation.
“Ang hinihingi ko sa iyo, at ng taumbayan, ay accountability. Kaya, i-account nyo na lang kung para saan ang hinihingi nyong confidential funds,” Hontiveros added.
(What I ask of you, and of the people, is accountability. So, just account for what you are requesting confidential funds for.)
To recall, Duterte earlier admitted that her office requested a P125 million confidential budget last year. This controversial budget was part of the P221.4 million allocation transferred to the OVP.