Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte defended her controversial multi-million confidential funds, insisting instead that anyone against it is against peace and order and becomes an enemy of the state.
Vice President Sara Duterte delivers a speech at the 122nd anniversary celebration of the Police Regional Office 13 in Butuan City on Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023. (OVP photo)
Speaking during the Philippine National Police (PNP) Regional Office 13's 122nd Police Service Anniversary in Butuan City, the embattled official justified the need for confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs).
"Confidential funds play a vital role in maintaining security by providing the necessary resources to address unforeseen challenges swiftly and decisively," she said on Wednesday, Oct. 4.
“Makinig kayo sa lahat ng sinasabi sa palibot ninyo at tandaan ninyo, kung sino man kumokontra sa confidential funds ay kumokontra sa kapayapaan. Kung sino ang kumokontra sa kapayaan ay kalaban ng bayan (Listen to what is being said by those around you and remember, whoever is against confidential funds is against peace. Whoever is against peace is the enemy of the state),” Duterte added.
The Vice President called for vigilance amid what she considered "attacks" against the CIFs, which are not subject to the same rigorous auditing processes as other government funds.
"Anyone who attacks or undermines funds allocated for peace and order is naturally assumed to have insidious motivations. Such actions go against the protection and well-being of our citizenry. Those who seek to compromise the security and development of our nation jeopardize the very fabric of our society and hinder our progress," she noted.
"We must remain vigilant and steadfast in our commitment to safeguarding our people and our nation," the official stressed.
Her remarks came almost a week of complete silence about Congress' decision to scrap her combined P650-million—P500 million for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and P150 million for the Department of Education (DepEd)—proposed confidential funds for 2024 and the revelation that the P125-million CIF transferred to the OVP in December 2022 by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) was spent in just 19 days.
According to the Commission on Audit (COA), the local government of Davao City during Duterte's tenure as mayor from 2016 to 2022, had been allocated a total of P2.697 billion in confidential funds, or an average of P460 million a year.
This amount was larger than the confidential funds received by the country's wealthiest cities, such as Quezon City (P435 million) and Makati City (P1.25 billion).
The Vice President, who is also the country's education chief in a concurrent capacity, defended the quick spending of the funds and asserted that there should be "no price tag" in ensuring peace and order.
"Let us remember that security and development do not come with a price tag; they are the very essence of a thriving nation," Duterte said.
"The allocation of confidential funds should not be constrained by time. It matters not whether it takes one day or one year of spending; what truly matters is the safety and security of our people. We cannot cap the importance of protecting our citizens based on arbitrary timeframes," she added.
While she did not comment on Congress' anounced intention to reallocate her offices' confidential funds in the 2024 budget, she cited DepEd's membership in the Anti-Terrorist Council and the Office of the Secretary's membership in the NTF-ELCAC as proof of the agency's "unwavering commitment to the protection and well-being of our learners, personnel, and other stakeholders."
NTF-ELCAC is the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, a government agency where Duterte serves as co-vice chairperson.
"The safety and security of our people should never be limited by financial constraints or arbitrary timeframes. We must stand united against any attack on funds allocated for peace and order, as they threaten the protection and well-being of our citizenry," she concluded.