COA report on P125 million confi fund transferred to OVP out by December

The Commission on Audit (COA) would release its report on the 2022 transfer of P125 million from the Office of the President's contingent fund to the Office of the Vice President’s confidential fund by December.

COA relayed its commitment through Senator Sonny Angara, who defended the commission’s P13.539 billion proposed 2024 budget during the Senate plenary debates on Monday.

Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros inquired about the status of the COA audit on the P125 million given to the OVP in 2022 as she recalled that the state audit agency committed to finish the report by November 15.

“The audit is still ongoing since apparently the Office of the Vice President submitted documents last 19th October, which are being processed by the commission, your honor,” Angara said.

“They believe in one month, they will have completed it, your honor,” he added.

The COA, in its 2022 Annual Audit Report, disclosed that the OVP had P125 million in confidential expenses last year despite not having an appropriation for intelligence or confidential funds under the 2022 GAA.

Due to this, members of the Makabayan bloc wanted Vice President Sara Duterte to explain the source of the P125 million confidential fund that the OVP got and spent last year.

In a previous statement, Duterte said that the OVP had already planned and identified events, activities, and projects that would be covered by the confidential fund as early as August 2022—two months after she took her oath as the 15th Vice President of the country.

A petition asking the Supreme Court to order the OVP to return the P125 million confidential fund to the government’s treasury was filed last November. — DVM, GMA Integrated News