Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (Rep. Manuel's office, Facebook

Makabayan solon Kabataan Party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel believes that Vice President Sara Duterte's recent ratings drop might have been a factor in her decision to stop pursuing confidential funds for the offices that she holds. 

"Huwag sana makampante ang Bise Presidente na porket sinusuko na niya na makakuha ng confidential funds ay matatahimik na ang taumbayan," Manuel said in a statement Thursday, Nov. 9. 

(The Vice President shouldn't be complacent that just because she gave up her pursuit of getting confidential funds, the public would become silent about the issue.) 

The militant party-list legislators in the House of Representatives were the ones who blew the lid off the confidential funds issue against the lady official during the budget process earlier this year. 

"Tinatakasan lang niya ang pananagutan na magpaliwanag kung paano ginamit ang confidential funds," Manuel said. 

(She's just looking for a way out of explaining how she used confidential funds.) 

"Sumasadsad na rin ang ratings niya, at baka ayaw lang niya magisa uli sa Senado," added the youth solon. 

(Her ratings are also plunging, and maybe she doesn't want to be grilled again by the Senate.) 

The results of the latest RPMD “Boses ng Bayan” survey showed that the Vice President’s satisfaction rating went down by a huge 10 percentage points from 86 percent to 76 percent. 

Duterte’s trust rating also slid from 90 percent to 83 percent. 

The Makabayan bloc has repeatedly criticized Duterte for failing to properly explain how and where the Office of the Vice President (OVP) spent P125 million in confidential funds in December 2022. 

For the 2024 national budget, Duterte had requested a total of P650 million in confidential funds for both the OVP and Department of Education (DepEd). That is, until Thursday, when she said she "will no longer pursue" the confidential funds. 

She said the confidential funds issue was "divisive" and that she would rather keep the country "peaceful and strong". 

To this, Manuel said: "A truly peaceful and strong country can be built on truth and accountability, not on trickery."