MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday, December 11, refused to explain what lawmakers described as “fabricated” receipts related to her use of confidential funds, citing concerns that it would compromise intelligence operations.
“I will not give an explanation because it will entail that I explain intelligence operations which will compromise offices who do intelligence operations. It will really compromise how they work. So, no explanation will be given to the members of the House of Representatives,” Duterte said when asked about the authenticity of the 405 “non-existent” individuals listed as signatories on the acknowledgment receipts related to confidential expenses.
House good government committee chairperson Joel Chua made public this finding on Monday, December 9, citing a data from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
“We were scammed through thousands of acknowledgment receipts that were hastily doctored or simply fabricated,” said House Assistant Majority Leader Zia Alonto Adiong. (READ: 405 signatories of confi fund receipts under VP Sara-led DepEd ‘non-existent’)
The Vice President also refused to answer whether the name “Mary Grace Piattos” and other suspicious identities were simply pseudonyms related to confidential expenses. A Mary Grace Piattos was listed as along the recipients of Duterte’s confidential funds in 2022, but the PSA had said that no such person exists is on its database.
“I cannot explain confidential funds because it will entail explaining intelligence operations. There is a specific provision of law. You cannot divulge confidential information that you received while in office,” Duterte said.
She was citing one provision of RA No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act which states, “Divulging valuable information of a confidential character, acquired by his office or by him on account of his official position to unauthorized persons, or releasing such information in advance of its authorized release date.”
Duterte repeatedly stated that she would not answer questions from House lawmakers regarding her use of confidential funds, arguing that the the Commission on Audit (COA), and not Congress, is the proper agency to inquire about this matter. (READ: House leaders to Sara Duterte: Don’t divert, answer allegations of fund misuse)
She said that the audit process is not done yet as the Office of the Vice President (OVP) can still submit other supporting documents.
“Everything that they asked for, we submitted. That is why there was a partial disallowance only. And even then, we are not yet finished with the process because we can still submit documents that are required by the Commission on Audit,” Duterte said. (READ: COA disallows P73M in OVP confidential funds for 2022)
“That is the problem right now, as I said, they are doing work that is not under the mandate of the House of Representatives. They cannot audit. They cannot question at all. They cannot make me answer and say that we represent the taxpayers and you have to answer. I will only answer to the Commission on audit because that is the body who can ask us questions about the fund use,” the Vice President added.
Sara to lawmakers: Probe Marcos’ confidential expenses
The Vice President also urged House lawmakers to also investigate the Office of the President’s (OP) use of confidential funds if they are serious about legislating its use, rather than singling out the OVP.
“It is a political attack. If you are in aid of legislation, and you want to legislate about confidential funds, you do not target one office and terrorize and torment the employees of that office. What you do is you do a sampling, a random sampling of the offices who have confidential funds,” Duterte said.
“Why not call the Office of the President who has billions and billions of confidential funds if you want to legislate about confidential funds? So that shows that they’re singling out the office of the vice president. And I really feel that it’s very disrespectful to the Office of the Vice president,” she added.
The OP, headed by the Commander in Chief of the armed forces, spent P4.56 billion in confidential and intelligence funds in 2023. The national government’s confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) breached P10 billion for the first time in 2023. (READ: Government’s confidential, intelligence spending in 2023 exceeds P10B for the first time)
It was during the term of Rodrigo Duterte, the Vice President’s father, when the OP’s CIF dramatically increased. From just P500 million a year during the Benigno Aquino III administration, the OP under the Duterte administration got P2.5 billion under the first budget that it crafted in 2017 or a 400% increase over 2016. The OP’s CIF was at P4.5 billion in 2021, Duterte’s final full year in office.
In total, Duterte’s offices, including the Department of Education during her tenure as chief, disbursed P612.5 million in confidential funds from 2022 to 2023. – Rappler.com
