Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday thanked President Ferdinand Marcor Jr. and other administration officials for defending the P125-million confidential fund of the Office of the Vice President.

"I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and to several officials of the Marcos administration who stood by the Office of the Vice President as it faced the storm of attacks on the 2022 confidential fund," Duterte said in a statement.

Duterte also expressed gratitude to Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, and Marikina Rep. Stella Quimbo for standing by the OVP amid the issue.

"These efforts are genuinely appreciated because they help counter the lies told by Rep. France Castro and the Makabayan bloc in Congress on the 2022 OVP confidential fund," Duterte said.

The Vice President slammed Sen. Risa Hontiveros and House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro of ACT Teachers Partylist who questioned the transfer of budget allocations in 2022 to OVP's confidential funds, saying such an item was not provided under last year's General Appropriation Act.

"Senator Risa Hontiveros, while she amuses the nation with her flair for drama, could only wish the 2022 OVP confidential fund was accessed illegally," Duterte said.

"It's a shame they still cannot produce any proof to support their dirty imagination. The indignity they have caused Congress and the Senate should be enough for us not to give them serious attention," she added.

"But I believe the lies they peddled to the public will eventually lose their charm and the OVP and DepEd will persist, be vindicated, and realize their aspirations for the Filipinos and the country."

Meanwhile, Hontiveros, in reply to Duterte's statements, said that her questioning of the OVP confidential is "just work and no drama."

"VP Sara, I thought the OVP (Office of the Vice President) can live without confidential funds? Then why do you seem to be sweating out for only a budget hearing? All agencies are releasing their proposed budget," Hontiveros asked.