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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Hard habit to break? Barbers says VP Duterte has always been 'not transparent' on confidential funds issue

Hard habit to break? Barbers says VP Duterte has always been 'not transparent' on confidential funds issue

Published Aug 20, 2026 11:42 am

At A Glance

  • Barbers accuses Duterte of withholding information, citing her refusal to cooperate with the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability's 2024 inquiry into confidential funds.
  • House records show OVP and DepEd officials resist subpoenas, with letters and position papers from Duterte and her staff asking COA and the committee to terminate the investigation.
  • Article I charges Duterte with misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds, including P500 million released to the OVP and P112.5 million to DepEd during her tenure as education secretary.
Robert Ace Barbers (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (Facebook)
Robert Ace Barbers (left), Vice President Sara Duterte (Facebook)


Senate impeachment trial respondent Vice President Sara Duterte has displayed a habit of withholding information and resisting congressional scrutiny when it comes to her usage of confidential funds.
House impeachment adviser and prosecution panel spokesperson Robert Ace Barbers gave this assessment even as the ongoing impeachment hearings continued to delve deeper into article I, or the allegation on confidential funds misuse amounting to P612.5 million.
Barbers pointed to the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) non-participation in the 2024 inquiry of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, as well as its efforts to prevent the release of documents that the panel sought for the probe.
“So obviously na merong pagpipigil, merong pagtatago sa katotohanan. Kaya nga, these are all as hiding the truth. Kumbaga, hindi transparent, hindi open,” Barbers said during an online press briefing Wednesday, Aug. 20.
(So obviously there is restraint, there is concealment of the truth. In other words, these are all hiding the truth. In short, not transparent, not open.)
His remarks came days after the Senate impeachment court took judicial notice of official House records from the committee’s 2024 investigation. This, after Duterte’s defense lawyers stipulated to their custody and transmittal.
Among those records was an Aug. 21, 2024 letter from then-OVP Undersecretary and Chief of Staff Zuleika Lopez to Commission on Audit (COA) Chairman Gamaliel Cordoba.
As per prosecutors, the OVP letter told COA not to comply with a House subpoena seeking OVP and Department of Education (DepEd) documents. Duterte served as DepEd chief from 2022 to 2024.
The records also included Duterte’s Sept. 23, 2024 letter wherein she told committee chairman Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua that she would not attend its deliberations and even asked him to terminate the inquiry.
Another was a Nov. 5, 2024 position paper from Lopez, former OVP special disbursing officer (SDO) Gina Acosta, former DepEd SDO Edward Fajarda and others wherein they refused to attend the committee hearings and likewise sought its termination.
Barbers said those records reflected the difficulties encountered by House investigators in securing testimony and documents needed to examine the confidential fund transactions.
“Nung panahon pa lang ng committee hearing sa Kongreso, wala na ngang cooperation, walang participation, at meron ngang action pigilan ’yung mga dokumentong sina-subpoena ng committee para maging basehan ito sa investigation and legislation,” he said.
(Even during the committee hearing in Congress, there was no cooperation, no participation, and there was even action to block the documents subpoenaed by the committee that should serve as the basis for investigation and legislation.)
Barbers said the amount of taxpayers’ money involved made transparency and cooperation particularly important.
“Considering that a large amount of public funds were used, eh dapat may paliwanag sa bayan (There must be a public explanation),” stressed the former House quad-committee (quad-comm) overall chairman.
Article I accuses respondent Duterte of the alleged misuse, misappropriation and irregular liquidation of P612.5 million in confidential funds, consisting of P500 million released to the OVP from December 2022 to September 2023 and P112.5 million released to DepEd in three quarters of 2023 while Duterte was education secretary.

Related Tags

Robert Ace Barbers Sara Duterte confidential funds impeachment
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