Former Office of the Vice President (OVP) spokesman Barry Gutierrez urged Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte to withdraw her two offices' requests for confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) and allow Congress to realign the intended allocations to other sectors.

(From left) Vice President Sara Duterte and former lawmaker Barry Gutierrez (OVP photos)

In a radio interview on DZRH’s "Isyung Pambayan,” Gutierrez, ex-vice president Leni Robredo’s former spokesman, said that such an act would be even be commendable.

"In fact, tingin ko mapupuri pa ang ganitong klaseng hakbang (I think this kind of step will be lauded)," he added.

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd), both under Duterte, have requested for P500 million and P150 million, respectively, in CIFs for 2024.

But when grilled by a Senate panel during the budget deliberation, the official admitted that the OVP could do without the confidential funds though fulfilling its programs would be harder.

Gutierrez maintained that the Vice President can take a proactive stance in dropping the request for the controversial CIFs, so Congress can reallocate these funds already.

"Dito sa confidential fund hindi mo na kailangan hintayin na Kongreso mismo ang kumilos (Here in the confidential fund, you don’t need to wait for Congress to act),” the former Akbayan representative said.

“Mismong si VP Sara, nakikita naman niya na may mga kwestyon dito, nakikita naman niya na may mga pangangailangan ‘yung iba, pwedeng ‘yung OVP mismo ang mag-request na winiwithdraw nila ang kanilang paghingi at Congress na lang ang maglilipat (VP Sara herself, she can see that there are questions, she can see that others also have needs, the OVP itself can ask to withdraw their request and Congress can realign),” he explained.

The finance and appropriations committee of both chambers of Congress have already approved the proposed budgets of the OVP and DepEd.

However, amid the criticisms the request for funds have been receiving from the public and opposition lawmakers, Gutierrez said there is still time to withdraw the request.

“Pwede kasi on going pa ang budget process. Isa sa mga function ng Kongreso natin habang pinag-uusapan ang General Appropriations Act ay titignan kung ano ba ‘yung mga proposed budget items dito na hindi naman talaga kailangan (It’s possible because the budget process is still ongoing. One of the functions of our Congress while the General Appropriations Act is being discussed is to review which among the proposed budget items are not needed),” he added.

The budget allocated to Duterte’s two offices can instead be used to fund the agriculture sector to mitigate the impact of price ceilings on retailers.

"Yung pera pwedeng ipambayad sa kanila para hindi naman sila malugi and at the same time mababa pa rin ang magiging benta ng bigas (The money can be used to pay them [retailers] so they won’t be at a loss and at the same time, the rice prices will still be low),” Gutierrez said.