VP SARA LUMUSTAY NG P125-M ‘CONFIDENTIAL FUND’ IN 19 DAYS?

ANG katanungang ito ay pinost ni House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro nitong Lunes, ilang araw bago ang Office of the Vice President (OVP) ay nakatakdang magpresenta ng kanilang P2.374 billion proposed funding para sa 2024.

“The OVP spent the whole P125-million confidential fund given to the office in a span of just 19 days, from Dec. 13 to Dec. 31, 2022. This translates to P6,578,947.37 or almost P7 million per day,” saad ni Castro sa kanyang statement.

Binanggit niya ang special allotment release order (Saro) na inisyu ng Department of Budget and Management (DBM) noong Dec. 13, 2022, patungkol sa confidential expenses.

Ang 2022 Saro-BMB-C-22-0012004 para sa OVP ay nasa halagang P221,424 “to cover financial assistance/subsidy and confidential fund.”

Nakasaad sa Saro na ang Office of the President ay inaprubahan ang paglabas Nov. 28, 2022.

Binanggit din ni Castro ang Commission on Audit (COA) 2022 audit report sa OVP, sinasabing ang naturang halaga ay binubuo ng P125 million confidential expenses at P96.424 million para sa medical assistance.”

“This implies that P125 million in confidential funds was already spent by Dec. 31, 2022, along with P30 million of the financial assistance, for a total of P155 million,” sabi ni Castro.

Ang OVP ay isang civilian agency na walang national defense o law enforcement function.

“We are curious as to how the OVP spent a huge amount in a short amount of time… How did they spend this big amount, which should not be considered confidential funds? It should not be kept secret because the OVP did not get congressional authorization for this in 2022,” sabi ni Castro.

Nitong nakaraang linggo, pinuna ng Makabayan solon ang P125 million confidential expenses ng PVP para sa 2022 sa kabila ng hindi pagkakaroon ng appropriation para rito sa 2022 General Appropriations Act.

Binalaan niya ang OVP na maaring managot sa paglabag sa provisions sa Constitution at sa Revised Penal Code na ang mga paggastos ay kailangan ng corresponding appropriations sa national budget.