The Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives is set to file today a third petition asking the Supreme Court to declare the ₱125-million confidential fund of Vice President Sara Duterte in 2022 as unconstitutional.
In an online briefing, the bloc announced it would challenge the controversial expenses, saying there is a strong legal basis to question the constitutionality of the confidential funds.
“The legal basis to challenge the constitutionality of the confidential funds is strong. The VP has no expressly provided authority to use it,” Gabriela Women’s Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas said.
ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro said Makabayan hopes the secret funds could be returned to the public and officials involved in the spending are held accountable.
Castro, the House Deputy Minority Leader, maintained there are no line items for confidential funds in the 2022 national budget, which makes the Office of the Vice President spending it unconstitutional.
“Our prayer here is, first, it is declared unconstitutional…Second, it can be returned to the national treasury. That’s our prayers and, of course, we get the accountability of the officials involved,” she said.
The first two petitions in the High Court that sought to declare the funds unconstitutional were filed by both legal and economic experts.
The first was filed on Oct. 7 by former Commission on Elections chairman Augusto Lagman, constitutionalist Christian Monsod, former Finance Usec. Maria Cielo Magno, and lawyer Ibarra Gutierrez III.
The next was filed on Nov. 15 by former Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, lawyer Manuel “Chel” Diokno, and former Senator Richard Gordon.