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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider VP Duterte blasts 'dirty imagination' of her confidential funds' critics

VP Duterte blasts 'dirty imagination' of her confidential funds' critics

Published Sep 11, 2023 01:10 am

Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte thanked President Marcos and several officials of the current administration for backing the transfer of confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) from the Office of the President (OP) to her office in 2022.

VPSD_Senate.jpgVice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte at the Senate budget hearing on Monday, Sept. 4, 2023. (Ali Vicoy/MANILA BULLETIN)

In a statement on Monday, Sept. 11, the official lambasted the Makabayan bloc in Congress and Senator Risa Hontiveros for criticizing the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) 2022 confidential funds.

“I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and to several officials of the Marcos administration who stood by the Office of the Vice President as it faced the storm of attacks on the 2022 confidential fund,” Duterte said.

The Vice President then expressed gratitude to Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo for defending the 2022 CIF that critics said was unconstitutional because the OP cannot transfer funds where there was no line item to begin with.

She thanked Quimbo specifically “for bravely and rationally facing a gang of individuals who had successfully mastered the art of fabricating lies” and Bersamin “for a detailed presentation of facts about the 2022 OVP CF and elucidating that the request, approval, and spending of the fund violated no law.”

“These efforts are genuinely appreciated because they help counter the lies told by Rep. France Castro and the Makabayan bloc in Congress on the 2022 OVP CF,” Duterte said.

“Senator Risa Hontiveros, while she amuses the nation with her flair for drama, could only wish the 2022 OVP CF was accessed illegally.”

Allies of the Marcos administration and known members of the opposition have butt heads on the constitutionality of the transfer for days, with Quimbo arguing that the transfer was legal because there was a line item for it under the previous OVP’s 2022 budget.

But lawyer Barry Gutierrez, former spokesman of former vice president Leni Robredo, said that the lawmaker was referring to an “account category heading,” which was the standard template for the budget proposal, and not a line item.

Duterte furthered that Congress should stop paying attention to ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro, a member of the Makabayan bloc, and Hontiveros.

“It’s a shame they still cannot produce any proof to support their dirty imagination,” she said.

“The indignity they have caused Congress and the Senate should be enough for us not to give them serious attention,” the Vice President added.

She also thanked Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro for his support in creating the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG) and “rebuking individuals and groups that harbor strong animosity against institutions tasked to ensure peace and security.”

This was after she was criticized for the use of 433 security personnel in 2022.

She then expressed confidence that both the OVP and Department of Education (DepEd) will soon be vindicated to “realize their aspirations for the Filipinos and the country.”

Duterte also currently has a request for a total of P650-million confidential funds for the OVP—P500 million—and the DepEd—P150 million—in the proposed 2024 budget.

Related Tags

Risa Hontiveros OVP 2024 national budget Confidential funds VP Sara Duterte DepEd
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