Vice President Sara Z. Duterte on Monday thanked President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. for attesting to the legitimate spending of the 2022 Confidential Fund (CF) of the Office of the Vice President (OVP).
In a statement, Duterte also hailed Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, and Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo for defending the budget of the OVP.
“These efforts are genuinely appreciated because they help counter the lies told by Rep. France Castro and the Makabayan bloc in Congress on the 2022 OVP CF,” she added.
Bersamin, Duterte said, provided a detailed presentation about the 2022 OVP CF which proved that it violated no law and refuted the sentiments of its critics.
Duterte also mentioned Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros whom she said “could only wish the 2022 OVP CF was accessed illegally.”
“It’s a shame they still cannot produce any proof to support their dirty imagination. The indignity they have caused Congress and the Senate should be enough for us not to give them serious attention,” Duterte said.
The opposition lawmakers from the House of Representatives have been insisting that the transfer of presidential contingency funds to the OVP last year is illegal.
Last week, the Office of the Executive Secretary (OES) said the disbursement was made pursuant to Special Provision No. 1 under FY 2022 Contingent Fund.
Hontiveros meanwhile challenged the Vice President to defend publicly the confidential funds that the OVP is asking..
She said that the Office of the Vice President now has “low standards,” and “kept evading questions, and beating around the bush.”
She also cited that two former Senate Presidents, Franklin Drilon at Aquilino Pimentel III, as saying that that the transfer of funds from the Office of the President to the Office of the Vice President is illegal and unconstitutional.
She also said the proposed DepEd confidential fund is is bigger than the combined confidential funds of the Department of National Defense and National Intelligence Coordinating Agency. Macon Ramos-Araneta
