VICE President Sara Duterte has withdrawn her request to Congress for confidential funds for her office and the Department of Education in 2024.
Duterte’s decision was announced during the Senate plenary deliberations on the proposed P5.768-trillion national budget on Thursday.
“We are in receipt of a statement from the Vice President, which we discussed earlier, and according to her, the OVP can only propose a budget to support the safe implementation of its PAPs (projects, activities, and programs) to alleviate poverty and promote the welfare of each and every Filipino family,” Senate finance committee chairperson Sonny Angara said.
“Nonetheless, they will no longer pursue the CIF (confidential and intelligence funds), and the reason why is because it is seen as divisive, and as the vice president, she swore an oath to keep the country peaceful and strong,” he added.
The DepEd will “no longer pursue confidential funds,” according to Senator Pia Cayetano, who instead asked that the money go to the National Learning Recovery Program.
The OVP had requested P500 million in confidential funds, while the DepEd, which Duterte also heads, asked for P150 million.
The House version of the 2024 budget already transferred these allocations to agencies in charge of monitoring and defending the country’s sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea amid public criticism.
The Senate finance committee said on Wednesday that it had adopted the House version.
Duterte’s use of confidential funds worth P125 million last year has been questioned before the Supreme Court.
Petitioners Christian Monsod (former Commission on Elections chairman), Barry Gutierrez (OVP spokesperson during Leni Robredo’s term), and Cielo Magno (former Finance Undersecretary), among others, argued that the 2022 national budget did not provide an item for confidential and intelligence expenses for the OVP.
They said the release of funds by the Department of Budget and Management to the OVP was a ”clear usurpation of the exclusive power of Congress to determine how the budget should be spent.”
The petitioners urged the SC to declare the transfer of funds unconstitutional and order the OVP to return the amount to the national treasury.
Duterte said the filing of the petition was an opportunity to explain the legality of the fund transfer.
She also hoped that the wisdom of the SC justices would help resolve the matter.
