VP Sara no longer seeking confidential funds in 2024, Angara says

Vice President Sara Duterte is letting go of the P500 million confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) under the proposed 2024 national budget, Senator Sonny Angara said Thursday.

“We are in receipt of a statement from the Vice President, we discussed earlier and according to her, the OVP (Office of the Vice President) can only propose a budget to support the safe implementation of its PAPs [projects, activities, programs] to alleviate poverty and promote the [general] welfare of each and every Filipino family,” Angara, who is defending the budget of the OVP at the Senate, said.

“Nonetheless, they will no longer pursue the CIF and the reason why is because it is seen to be divisive and as the Vice President, she swore an oath to keep the country peaceful and strong,” he added. 

During the plenary deliberations on the 2024 proposed budget of the Department of Education later in the day, Senator Pia Cayetano said that Duterte is also letting go of the agency's P150 million confidential funds.

“We are all parents who want to protect our children. Ang seguridad ng mga bata ay seguridad ng kinabukasan ng ating bayan. Nonetheless, DepEd will no longer pursue confidential funds," Cayetano, citing Duterte's statement, said. 

"We humbly request that the funds be realigned to the national learning recovery program because we do not expect good scores for the 2022 PISA results coming out this December," she added. 

Duterte's father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, previously said that the Vice President intends to use her offices' proposed confidential and intelligence funds to revive the mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program in the country.

“Binasa ko ang rationale. Ang plano niya—unahan ko na lang, so I’m sorry I have to divulge this because binigay mo naman sa’kin, then I just make it public—gamitin niya ang pera, it’s only P125 million, gamitin niya sa mga BMT, palakasin niya sa high school, pati ibalik talaga niya ang ROTC. Ipilit niya. Make it compulsory,” Duterte said in an interview on SMNI back in October. 

(I read the rationale. Her plan—I'm sorry I have to divulge this because you gave it to me, then I just made it public—is to use the money, it's only P125 million, to strengthen the BMT in high school, and really bring back the ROTC. She wants to push for it and make it compulsory.)

VP Sara who is also the Education Secretary has been pushing for the revival of the mandatory ROTC, more than two decades after the program was scrapped in 2002.

She also defended her offices’ use of confidential funds last month, saying that those against the allocation are “naturally assumed to have insidious motivations.”

“Anyone who attacks or undermines funds allocated for peace and order is naturally assumed to have insidious motivations. Such actions go against the protection and well-being of the citizenry. Those who seek to compromise the security and development of our nation jeopardize the very fabric of our society and hinder our progress,” she said.

“Tandaan ninyo—kung sino man ang kumokontra sa confidential funds ay kumokontra sa kapayapaan. Kung sino ang kumokontra sa kapayapaan ay kalaban ng bayan,” she added.

(Remember—whoever is against confidential funds is against peace. Whoever is against peace is an enemy of the nation.)

Earlier this week, a petition was filed before the Supreme Court to order the OVP to return the P125 million confidential funds in 2022 to the government’s treasury.

Petitioners claimed that there is no “delegated legislative power” in the transfer and that the confidential funds do not fall under the funding allowed by the contingent fund.

VP Sara has welcomed the chance to tackle the legality of the transfer of P125 million in funds from the Office of the President to the OVP in late 2022.

“Malugod po naming tinatanggap ang pagkakataong talakayin ang legalidad ng paglilipat ng pondo. Umaasa kami na ang dunong ng Korte Suprema ay magiging daan upang tuluyang matapos ang usapin na ito,” Duterte said in a video message.

(We welcome the opportunity to discuss the legality of fund transfers. We hope that the wisdom of the Supreme Court will be the way to finally end this matter.) 

Moot and academic

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, who has been questioning the proposed CIFs under the 2024 national budget, lauded Vice President's move.

Meanwhile, the Vice President's statement on the CIF was reiterated by DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa in an interview with reporters.

“Ang OVP maaari lamang magmungkahi ng kaukulan o karapat-dapat ng budget para sa maayos na implementasyon ng mga proyekto laban sa kahirapan at mga programa na magtataguyod ng kapakanan ng bawat Pilipino. Pero gayunpaman, hindi na po ipu-pursue, hindi na itutuloy ng OVP ang orihinal na mungkahi para sa confidential funds,” he said.

(The OVP can only propose an amount for the proper implementation of projects against poverty and programs that will make the welfare of the Filipinos better. Nonetheless, the OVP will no longer seek the original proposal for its confidential funds.)

“Nakikita natin na talagang may tendency magkawatak-watak o maging divisive ang issue na ito,” he added.

Meanwhile, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said the issue on the CIF for the Office of the Vice President is already “moot and academic.”

Asked if the CIF for OVP will be reinstated during the bicameral conference on the national budget, Zubiri said, “Ayaw na ni VP. Nakausap namin siya. Ayaw niyang ibalik ‘yung confidential funds.”

(She doesn’t like it anymore. We talked to her and she no longer wants it.) —VAL/AOL, GMA Integrated News