The Makabayan party-list bloc has called on Vice President Sara Duterte to publicly address allegations of misusing ₱612.5 million in confidential funds, even without the benefit of an impeachment trial.
Duterte previously expressed her desire for both prosecution and defense to present their evidence, saying, “Unfortunately, it will not happen” after the Senate decided to archive the impeachment complaint.
Makabayan lawmakers, however, insisted that Duterte still has avenues to explain her side, particularly during the upcoming national budget hearings.
“Wala namang pumipigil kay vice president na ilabas na ‘yung kanyang depensa, whether sa press con pwede niyang ilabas ‘yan and most definitely, dito sa Kongreso, lalo pa at parating na ang budget hearings,” ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio said in a chance interview.
Kabataan party-list Representative Renee Co echoed the challenge, urging Duterte to comply with legal processes and attend congressional summons.
“Ang challenge natin kay VP Sara na bilang public official, maging compliant siya sa law, maging compliant siya doon sa iba’t ibang pagiging compulsory ng paghahanap kung nasaan ang funds na ‘to through ‘yung pagpunta niya sa mga summons. ‘Yun naman ‘yung challenge: Show up in the budget hearings,” Co said.
Tinio dismissed Duterte’s earlier remarks as mere “posturing,” and emphasized that lawmakers will question her about the confidential funds during budget deliberations.
During the 19th Congress, the House committee on good government and public accountability launched an inquiry into Duterte’s use of confidential funds—a probe she repeatedly failed to attend. Lawmakers uncovered over a thousand questionable fund recipients whose names did not appear in the Philippine Statistics Authority’s system.
The alleged fund mismanagement was one of the key reasons behind the impeachment complaint signed by 215 House members in February. (ZIA LUNA)
