Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas (left), ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro 

The issue that the Makabayan lawmakers want to get answers to is the one on confidential funds; never mind the alleged impeachment plot against Vice President Sara Duterte. 

ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro and Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas had this to say in a recent press conference as they underscored the need for the involved agencies to be transparent with their usage of the controversial funds. 

“Dapat talagang mag-focus tayo doon sa isyu ng confidential funds. Ang tagal na nito mula pa nung September hindi pa rin nasasagot ng concerned agencies na mga pinagtatanungan namin especially yung OVP (Office of the Vice President), sa DepEd (Department of Education),” Castro said. 

(We should really focus on the issue of confidential funds. This has been an issue since September and up to now, the concerned agencies that we've asked especially the OVP and DepEd have yet to answer.) 

“Para sa amin ito dapat yung focus-an na isyu, yung mga usapin ng impeachment hindi yan naman ano, seryoso,” she added. 

(For us this should be the main issue, the talks about the impeachment aren't serious.) 

Brosas agreed with fellow militant solon. "Yung focus talaga natin sa Makabayan ngayon ay yung usapin ng accountability doon sa confidential funds (The real focus in the Makabayan right now is the issue on accountability on confidential funds)." 

"Of course its not only with the OVP, kahit naman sa OP may mga tanong. Sa previous na administration sa panahon ni [Rodrigo] Duterte na napakalaki ‘no, yan yun eh. Napakalaki ng mga confidential funds at yun talaga yung dapat unahin kasi yun naman yung tanong ng taumbayan di ba?” Brosas said. 

(Of course it's not only with the OVP, there are also questions with the OP. We're talking about the previous administration during Duterte’s time when it was so big. The confidential funds are so big and that's the issue that we have to prioritize since that's what the people are asking.) 

Earlier this month, Vice President Duterte announced that she was no longer pursuing the P650 million worth of confidential funds that she had asked for under the proposed 2024 national budget. She cited as reason the "divisiveness" that the confidential funds issue had caused among Filipinos. 

READ THIS: 

https://mb.com.ph/2023/11/14/brosas-not-letting-go-of-ovp-confidential-funds-issue-reminds-coa-to-release-findings

But the Makabayan bloc was quick to remind the younger Duterte that she had yet to give the full details of OVP's spending of P125 million worth of confidential funds in just 11 days in December 2022. 

"We believe that the Filipino people have the right to know how public funds are being utilized, especially when it involves significant amounts such as the OVP's P125-million corruption-prone confidential funds transferred from the Office of the President (OP) and spent within just 11 days in 2022," Brosas said last Nov. 14. 

Last week, Castro told reporters that she had heard "talks" from her House colleagues regarding the possible impeachment of Vice President Duterte. 

Castro has since clarified that these talks were "not serious" and that she only heard from them from informal huddles of other solons. At the most, she said discussions to impeach the sitting Vice President were "premature".