Former President Rodrigo Duterte is not prying on political issues concerning his daughter, Vice President Sara Z. Duterte, said Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa.

"Hindi naman nakikialam si Pangulong Duterte, 'no, pagdating sa gano'ng mga bagay. Hindi kami nakapag-usap tungkol diyan. Hindi siya nakikialam (President Duterte is not nosy when it comes to such thing. We have not talked about that. He is not interfering)," Dela Rosa said in a radio interview Sunday night.

Earlier this week, some members of the House of Representatives eyeing realigning the confidential and intelligence funds of some civilian agencies, including the Department of Education and Office of the Vice President, to augment budgets of the intelligence and security forces tasked to resolve the increasing tensions in the West Philippine Sea.

Dela Rosa emphasized that the former President respects the separation of the powers between the executive and legislative bodies.

"The power of the purse solely belongs to the Congress. He never intervened even when he was the President, he respects the separation of powers of the executive and legislative branches of government," he said.

"On a personal note, wala siyang ginawang tawag, wala siyang ginawang pagbanggit at wala kaming ginawang pag-uusap patungkol diyan (On a personal note, he did not make any calls, he did not mention it and we did not talk about that matter," he added.

Dela Rosa was asked if the Senate would do the same plan to realign the civilian intelligence and confidential funds.

He replied: "I can't speak for and on behalf of my colleagues 'no? The Senate is composed of 24 republics. May kanya-kanyang desisyon 'yan, baka mamaya magkakamali ako sa aking forecast kasi pwedeng magbago, pwedeng magbago 'yung isip ng isang senador pagdating sa botohan (They have their own decisions, maybe later I could make mistake in my forecast because it could change, a senator could always change his mind when voting time comes)."

Dela Rosa said the chamber's decision will always come out from the plenary session's result.

"Hindi talaga ako makapagbigay sa'yo ng fearless forecast. Wala akong nakikita pa na magiging desisyon collectively ng ating Senado. So hintayin na lang natin (I couldn't give you a fearless forecast right now. I still couldn't see the collective decision in the Senate. So let's just wait)," he stressed.