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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider La Union solon Ortega accuses VP Duterte of 'pocketing' confidential funds

La Union solon Ortega accuses VP Duterte of 'pocketing' confidential funds

Published Dec 10, 2024 05:40 am

At A Glance

  • Refusing to mince his words, House Deputy Majority Leader La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V has outright accused Vice President Sara Duterte of "pocketing" the confidential funds allocated to her office.

20241210_124951.jpgLa Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (Facebook, PPAB)

Refusing to mince his words, House Deputy Majority Leader La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V has outright accused Vice President Sara Duterte of "pocketing" the confidential funds allocated to her office.

Ortega arrived at this conclusion after the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability carried out eight marathon hearings on the alleged misuse of P612.5-million confidential funds under offices controlled by Duterte, specifically the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd).

The House inquiry covered disbursements from the two agencies in 2022 and 2023.

During the panel's summarization hearing Monday, Dec. 9, Ortega did everything but bite his tongue.

“Dalawang Pasko ang lumipas na nilustay niya at kasabwat niya ang pera ng bayan. Para siyang Santa Claus ng OVP at DepEd na namimigay ng pera na pinaghirapan ng taumbayan,” Ortega said of the lady official.

(For two Christmases, she and her accomplices have wasted public funds. She's like the Santa Claus of OVP and DepEd who gives away the money that the people worked hard for.)

“Pero hindi lang pinapamigay, mukhang binubulsa pa. In short, yumayaman si VP Sara at ang kaniyang mga kasamahan, habang marami pa ang kumakapit pa rin sa patalim," he added.

(But it wasn't just given away, it appears to have been pocketed too. In short, VP Sara and her companions are getting rich, while many of the less fortunate remain in a precarious position.)

"This is a crime of the highest order,” declared Ortega, a member of the House "Young Guns" bloc, before the good government panel.

The Ilokano said that the funds could have been used to provide relief for Filipinos, "Kung hindi sana niya ibinulsa (Had she not pocketed them)."

“This is not only a culpable violation of the Constitution but a betrayal of the trust of the people that had been given to her,” added the ranking congressman.

Ortega added, “Mahigit kalahating bilyong piso, ilang classroom na sana ang napagawa nito. Ilang libro at laptop sana ang nabili ng perang ito, ilang feeding programs na po Mr. Chair ang maaaring isinagawa."

(Over half a billion pesos could have been used to build classrooms. A number of books and laptops could have been bought with this money, not to mention feeding programs Mr. Chair.)

"Hindi ito biro. Hindi biro ang kalahating bilyong piso. Malaking bagay sana kung nilaan ang perang ito sa lehitimong programa ng gobyerno,” he said.

(This is not joke. Half a billion pesos is no joke. It could have made a difference had this been used on legitimate government programs.)

Related Tags

Sara Duterte paolo Ortega Confidential funds
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