ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider VP Duterte 'not the only' vice president to receive confidential funds

VP Duterte 'not the only' vice president to receive confidential funds

Defense disputes claims circulating online, says previous vice presidents also received confidential fund allocations

Published Aug 4, 2026 04:45 pm

At A Glance

  • VP Sara Duterte's defense said claims that she was the first vice president to receive confidential funds are misleading.
  • The defense argued that previous vice presidents also received confidential fund allocations.
  • Defense spokesperson Atty. Michael Poa said his cross-examination aimed to clarify public misconceptions surrounding the issue.
Vice President Sara Duterte's defense said previous vice presidents also received confidential funds, disputing claims that she was the first to do so. (MB Visual Content Group)
Vice President Sara Duterte's defense said previous vice presidents also received confidential funds, disputing claims that she was the first to do so. (MB Visual Content Group)
The defense team of Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday, August 4, disputed claims that she was the first vice president in Philippine history to receive confidential funds, saying such assertions are misleading and inconsistent with historical records.
Speaking to reporters after the day's impeachment trial proceedings, defense spokesperson Atty. Michael Poa said he deliberately raised the issue during his cross-examination of a Commission on Audit (COA) witness to correct what he described as misinformation circulating on social media.
"As you know, sa socmed kahapon ang dami ko nakita, parang pinapalabas si VP Sara lang ang first ever VP na nagkaroon ng confidential funds (On social media yesterday, I saw a lot of posts making it appear as if VP Sara is the first-ever vice president to have confidential funds)," Poa said. "I think that's unfair," he added.
'Fact-check the claims'
Poa said he noticed social media posts claiming Duterte was the first vice president to receive confidential funds and wanted to address the issue during the hearing.
"Pa-fact-check nyo naman kung ilang vice presidents ang nagkaroon ng confidential funds, para lang patas tayo, para lang hindi naman yung nasa sentro lang lumalabas misleading news na si VP lang in our history ang nagkaroon ng confidential funds as a vice president (Please fact-check how many vice presidents have had confidential funds. This is just to be fair, so that misleading news does not spread claiming that only the current vice president in our history has had confidential funds)," Poa said.
"But again, the only point I wanted to make there, because I wanted to protect the rights of my clients, especially rights against itong (this) misleading information na siya lang yung VP na nagkaroon ng (that she is the only vice president who has had) confidential funds," he added.
He added that previous vice presidents who received confidential funds likely had valid reasons for requesting them.
During the trial, Poa presented a 2014 Department of Budget and Management (DBM) document showing that the OVP received confidential funds during the term of former Vice President Jejomar Binay, countering testimony that Duterte was the only vice president to have access to such funds.
Clarifying the record
Poa said one of his preliminary questions during cross-examination was intended to establish the source of the Office of the Vice President's (OVP) confidential funds.
He noted that while the OVP's 2022 confidential fund allocation was not included in the General Appropriations Act (GAA), the OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd) were both legitimately granted confidential funds for 2023.
According to Poa, the COA witness merely testified that Duterte was the only vice president audited during his tenure because she was the only occupant of the office with such an appropriation at that time.
He stressed that this should not be construed to mean Duterte was the first or only vice president to receive confidential funds.
Defense cites existing guidelines
Poa also explained that his line of questioning was intended to help the public understand the purpose of confidential funds and why the audit process for them differs from that for regular government expenditures.
He pointed to existing guidelines governing confidential funds, saying these explain the rationale behind such allocations and the corresponding auditing procedures.
The Senate impeachment trial against Duterte is expected to continue with the presentation of additional witnesses and evidence by both the prosecution and the defense. 

Related Tags

Sara Duterte impeachment Sara Duterte confidential funds Michael Poa Senate impeachment trial Office of the Vice President
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ static_articles_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.