VP Sara shuns confi funds

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) will not ask for confidential funds for next year, Vice President Sara Duterte said on Saturday.

“For the Office of the Vice President, no, we don’t have a proposal for confidential funds for next year,” Duterte said in an ambush interview in Cebu City.

The Department of Budget and Management has said the proposed budget for 2025 is P6.352 trillion.

Duterte had let go of the P500 million confidential and intelligence funds for the OVP in the 2024 national budget. She had also forfeited the P150-million confidential fund for the Department of Education.

The House of Representatives realigned the confidential and intelligence funds of the OVP, DepEd, and other government agencies to increase the budgets of the intelligence and security forces.

Last week, the Vice President announced her resignation as Secretary of Education and Vice Chairperson of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict.

She, however, did not give the reason for quitting the posts, saying she would be focusing on an orderly and smooth transition to the new leadership at the DepEd.

Duterte said she and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. remain friendly with each other on a personal level even if she quit his Cabinet.