Sen. Hontiveros – VP Sara feud over confidential funds escalates

Sen. Risa Hontiveros and Vice President Sara Duterte FILE PHOTO

Sen. Risa Hontiveros is not backing down on her call for Vice President Sara Duterte to come clean on the disbursement of P125 million in confidential funds that her office received in December 2022.

Speaking to journalists in Iligan City on Friday, Hontiveros said Duterte should answer the issue squarely instead of hurling personal attacks against her and House Deputy Minority Leader Rep. France Castro.

Both the senator and Castro have been the targets of Duterte’s tirades after they questioned the legality of funneling funds from the Office of the President to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) without the approval of Congress.

“As I have been reiterating, let’s stick to the real issue because this has nothing to do with ‘drama’ and ‘respect,’” Hontiveros told Iligan journalists in an interview, a transcript of which was provided by her office.

“Everyone of us who works in the government should respect the citizens who pay taxes. We should respect the government institutions, particularly the Congress that appropriates the [national] budget,” she said.

‘No respect’

The opposition senator was reacting to the Vice President’s comments that Hontiveros “amuses the nation with her flair for drama” and that she has “no respect” for both Castro and Hontiveros.

According to Hontiveros, it would be better for Duterte to just issue a clear explanation on how the OVP spent the confidential funds.

She also stressed that such lump-sum allotments in the government’s proposed P5.768-trillion national spending plan for 2024 should be allocated through line budget items.

State agencies involved in safeguarding the country’s maritime territory, such as the Philippine Coast Guard and the National Intelligence and Coordinating Agency, should receive the bigger share of the P4.8 billion in confidential and intelligence funds that the government asked from Congress, she added.

Weighing in on the matter, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano said the government should “rationalize” the earmarking of confidential funds and that such allotment should not be “based on personalities.”

“For example, if [Duterte] becomes the secretary of DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development), will we also allot DSWD with confidential funds?” Cayetano asked at a press briefing.

No Congress approval

“If [former Education] Secretary [Leonor] Briones returns to [her former post], will we give her the same amount [for confidential funds]?” he pointed out.

While such allotments were exempted from the usual rigorous scrutiny of the Commission on Audit, Cayetano said there should be “ways to be accountable in a way that is acceptable to the people.”

He also echoed the view of Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III that budget items that had no prior approval by Congress were not allowed to receive “contingent funds.”

At a press conference on Friday, Makabayan lawmakers, led by House Assistant Minority Leader Rep. Arlene Brosas, admitted they have no evidence that confidential and intelligence funds were fraudulently used but the lack of transparency only fueled the public’s doubt and questions over the secret funds.

“We have no proof right now. But we have questions. That’s why we want to ask questions and we want to reveal what is really going on,” she said.

gsg