NOVALICHES Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani on Saturday, October 7, 2023, joined the snowballing calls for transparency in the allocation of confidential funds for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd), both of which are headed by Vice President Sara Duterte.
In a radio interview, Bacani slammed the lack of transparency in the push for confidential funds for agencies headed by Duterte sans adequate explanations, saying they cannot blame those who become suspicious of it.
"What needs to be explained sufficiently is where will the confidential funds be used and why is it that huge of an amount," said Bacani.
"Those who don't want to explain and provide proper accounting are possibly hiding corruption. The people are already tired of corruption brought about by the lack of transparency," he added.
The retired prelate said what makes the proposed allocation more unacceptable is the fact that many are already struggling due to the high prices of basic commodities.
He said he is praying that government officials be more considerate of the plight of Filipino families before spending public funds.
"Many don't have enough money for their families while government agencies spend more and more," said the bishop.
"We hope that those looking to spend more will be more mindful as more and more people now struggle in life," added Bacani.
In their respective proposed budgets, the OVP and the DepEd are asking for P500 million and P150 million confidential funds, respectively, for the year 2024.
The request for confidential funds by the OVP and DepEd has been put into question by some lawmakers and the general public.
This comes after the Commission on Audit earlier disclosed that the OVP spent the P125 million confidential funds in merely 11 days back in December 2022.
In response, Duterte labeled those questioning the agencies' confidential funds as being "against peace" and "enemy of the nation." (HDT/SunStar Philippines)