Former President Rodrigo Duterte has spoken. This time as a spokesperson of his daughter, the current Vice-President of the Republic. It may be a father’s natural instinct to defend his daughter, no matter what. The older Duterte recently went on a rant, calling the Congress as the “most rotten institution” in the land and even threatening to kill ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro.
It all began with the controversial confidential funds of the Office of the Vice-President (OVP) in which Sara Duterte, the daughter of the former President heads. The daughter sought around P650 million in confidential funds for the OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd) which she concurrently leads. Eventually, the said amount was stripped. The House leadership has decided to realign P1.23 billion in confidential funds of the government that includes Sara Duterte’s P650 million, to other agencies mandated with intelligence and surveillance functions.
Meanwhile, the former President justifies that the amount sought by his daughter would have been used to end the communist insurgency and to revive the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) “so we can be prepared in case of a war.”
Vice-President Sara Duterte in the latter part of 2022, had requested P250 million in confidential funds and was given P125 million by the Office of the President. However, as per the Commission on Audit’s report, the Office of the Vice-President had spent P125 million in just 11 days. Many are in awe as to where such huge amounts were spent considering that the OVP and the DepEd have no actual confidential or intelligence operation functions.
The Vice President however has been given massive resources at her disposal such as funds to put up satellite offices of the OVP to distribute aid even if this overlaps the function of several government agencies such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development among others. She likewise set up her own huge security group with access to presidential choppers and a vast number of government vehicles.
Going back to the older Duterte, he went after House Speaker Martin Romualdez as he accused the latter of orchestrating the moves against the former’s daughter because of the rumor that she would supposedly run for President in 2028. Romualdez is said to be eyeing for the highest position in the land too. They may or may not be rivals come 2028.
While others view the stripping away of Vice-President Sara Duterte’s confidential funds as “politically motivated”, others perceive the said funds as ostentatious, too much and unnecessary. If it's politics in the way, it’s an early demolition job against the Vice-President. If it’s not, then the said controversial funds should be used instead to other wise government expenditure where the people would benefit from.
Aside from confidential or intelligence operations, the government has a lot to attend to such as the inflation, the continuously rising prices of basic commodities, fuel and utilities such as water and electricity among others. It should instead use these funds to more appropriated spending which would focus on solving problems of Filipinos.
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