The question that lingers in the minds of voters is why it took Vice President Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio more than 23 months to quit as secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd) after failing to secure the defense portfolio that she wanted.
She resigned on June 19, 2024, nearly a year after the Commission on Audit (COA) released the annual audit report of the 2022 budget of the Office of the Vice President (OVP), which confirmed that Sara Duterte spent P125 million on confidential funds in December 2022 despite the fact that the former Vice President Leni Robredo’s remaining budget had zero confidential and intelligence fund (CIF.)
The source of the money was Malacanang’s Contingent Fund, with Duterte seeking the P125-million in August 2022 from Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin. Malacanang eventually admitted that the OVP also got and additional P96.4 million from the Office of the President, for a total of P221.4 million. Duterte was so prudent with cash that the entire P125 million was spent in just 11 days.
Miffed at criticisms lodged against her by the Makabayan Coalition led by ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro for the Palace’s generous financial support, Duterte tagged her detractors as the “enemies of the people” and “national security threats,” reprising her role as a brutal operator against activists and indigenous peoples (IP) in the Davao Region. Naturally, her critics were described as “liars” but the same accusation boomeranged as the receipts came from the COA, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and Malacanang itself. Those who tell the truth are the natural enemies of those who practice subterfuge and demagoguery.
Those who benefit from the Contingent Fund (CF) must also be accountable, former Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares argued, and emergencies or unfunded activities must be audited. The purchases or leases of seven satellite offices of the OVP cannot be described as “emergencies” but the P125-million could have been used to reimburse whoever acquired the properties or offices that eventually became OVP satellite offices. Curiously, no vice president in the entire history of the Philippine Republic ever wangled a deal to maintain seven satellite offices, not even Gloria Macapagal Arroyo when she was vice president.
Yet, Sara Duterte also spent P96.24 million for financial assistance to thousands of students, burial assistance to thousands of poor families and even transportation money for those who wish to fly or sail to Mindanao. These types of assistance were already being provided by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) and even by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD.)
As news of the Sarah Duterte’s resignation from DepEd broke out, activists, students and teachers alike, rejoiced. Not only did the department fail to improve the quality of teaching under her watch, she also joined the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) as co-chairperson, paving the way for the surveillance and monitoring of elementary schools to “inoculate” them from “infiltration” since May 2023. She also railed against educational materials posted in classrooms for strange reasons.
The very fact that the Dutertes have been holding weekly rallies to denounce the Marcos Jr. administration should have been seen by Malacanang as a red flag, with Sarah Duterte having her cake and eating it, too. It was a ridiculous situation for a Vice President to join rallies that lambaste Marcos, his cousin Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and their allies and still think that she enjoys the trust and confidence of the appointing power. Sara Duterte also failed to see that Congress wore a kibosh when it killed her bid to win a P500-million in confidential and intelligence fund (CIF) for the OVP and another P150-million CIF for DepEd on October 10, 2023. She should have quit right then and there. She isn’t cheap, right?
