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

Makabayan bloc solons have admitted that they don't have any proof as to the alleged misuse of confidential funds by the Office of the Vice President (OVP). 

What they do have is a lot of misgivings about the confidential funds system and disdain for Vice President Sara Duterte for what they described as her refusal to explain how P125 million in such funds were spent from Dec. 13 to 31, 2022. 

"We have no proof right now, pero...may mga questions tayo. Kaya nga gusto nating magtanong eh. Kaya gusto nating mag-ungkat kung ano talaga yung nangyayari dito," Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas said in a virtual press conference Friday, Sept. 15, when a reporter asked if Makabayan had proof in its possession the confidential funds were misused by OVP. 

(But...we have questions. That's why we want to ask questions. That's why we want to dig about what really happened here.) 

Brosas said that all they can do right now is to look at the available documents, which says that the OVP reported the funds for the period of Dec. 13 to 31. 

"A total of 19 days, P6 million per day," the congresswoman said. 

The OVP had liquidated the P125 million as "confidential funds", which cannot be audited. 

"Ang point lang nito, the other way around natin tanungin: Bakit kailangang i-confidential kung hindi naman? Kung pwede namang auditable, bakit hindi gawin yun?...Siguro kung mapapa-public scrutinize natin to, pupwede nating malaman kung saan talaga napunta eh,  we can ask," said Brosas. 

(The point here is, let's ask the question the other way around: Why declare it as confidential if it's not? If I can be auditable, why not make it so? Had this been subjected to public scrutiny,  we can find out where the funds went.) 

Meanwhile, ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro  didn't give a direct answer to the reporter's question and chose instead to focus on the secretive nature of the confidential funds. 

"Yung sinasabi nating pruweba, dahil nga ito'y confidential ano, at hindi natin mai-scrutinize, hindi alam din ng ating kababayan itong paggamit ng confidential fund kaya ayaw nga natin ito," Castro said. 

(As for proof, since these are confidential funds, we can't scrutinize them and the public is unaware of it, that's why we don't like confidential funds.) 

"Kung maipapaliwanag lang talaga ng maayos no, in broad strokes, kung talagang paano nila ginamit ito, ay masasabi natin na talagang ginagamit nila ng maayos. Eh kaso nga hindi eh, iniiwasan nila, lalung lalo na si Vice President, sa pagpapaliwanag dito. Magkaka-doubt ka dahil bakit hindi ito masyadong ipinapaliwanag," she further said. 

(If this could be explained, in broad strokes, how it was really used, then we could say that it was properly used. But that's not the case, they're avoiding to explain it, especially the Vice President. That's why you're having doubts on it.)