Vice President Sara Duterte is facing mounting pressure from the House of Representatives to explain the P500 million in confidential spending by her office, with nearly half flagged by the Commission on Audit (CoA).

In addition to the P73.287 million in secret expenses from 2022 disallowed by CoA, the Office of the Vice President (OVP) has been flagged for P164 million in confidential expenses in 2023 — Duterte’s first full year in office. In total, the OVP has P237 million in “questionable” confidential funds.

Lawmakers have lamented that Duterte has remained “evasive,” showing little response to their demand for an explanation of how the funds were spent.

“We are seeing a disturbing pattern of misuse or mismanagement of government funds. Vice President Duterte needs to explain this to the public — she owes the Filipino people transparency and accountability,” said House Assistant Majority Leader Jefferson Khonghun.

Khonghun emphasized that the P73 million in disallowed expenses could be “the beginning of a broader pattern of seeming misuse or mismanagement of government funds.”

The 2023 audit report, which has yet to be publicly released, showed that the OVP received a total of P625 million in confidential funds for the last quarter of 2022 and the following year. So far, CoA has audited P500 million — P125 million for 2022 and P375 million for 2023.

According to the audit, the OVP spent P125 million — of which P73.3 million was disallowed — in just 11 days, averaging P11.364 million per day in late December 2022.

During the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability’s investigation into the OVP’s alleged misuse of public funds, Assistant Majority Leader Suansing cited the 2023 audit report on Duterte’s office, detailing how it had been flagged every quarter up until the third quarter.

Suansing’s summary indicated that auditors flagged expenses totaling P67 million, or 53.6 percent of the allocated amount for the first quarter; P62 million (49.6 percent) for the second quarter; and P35 million (28 percent) for the third quarter.

Taxpayer money

“This is public money — hard-earned taxes of Filipinos. We need to know how it was spent, especially with CoA raising red flags. The Vice President must address these concerns head-on,” Khonghun said.

The summary of findings also revealed that the OVP exhausted the P500 million in confidential funds over 209 days, averaging P2.4 million in daily expenditures.

For “purchase of information,” the OVP disbursed P14 million between 21 and 31 December 2022; P10 million between 6 February and 29 March 2023; P12 million between 25 April and 30 June 2023; and P20 million between 14 July and 30 September 2023.

Meanwhile, P72 million was spent on the “payment of rewards” during these periods, with the OVP claiming it was conducting “surveillance and monitoring” activities.

The OVP also spent P152 million on the “purchase of supplies,” P53 million on the rental and maintenance of safe houses, and P122 million on “provision of medical and food aid.”

For the disallowed P73.3 million in confidential disbursements, the OVP spent P34.857 million on “various goods,” P24.93 million on “medicines,” and P3.5 million on “chairs, tables, desktop computers and printers.”

“There is a clear need for transparency,” Khonghun insisted. “The CoA’s findings suggest serious issues in how the OVP is handling its confidential funds. The Vice President cannot ignore this. She needs to explain.”

Last week, 1-Rider Partylist Rep. Ramon Gutierrez echoed similar concerns, saying there is a need to consider whether there is a pattern of “misuse, misfeasance, or even malfeasance in this case.”

“There seems to be a pattern. Based on the CoA report, the same offenses that led to the notice of disallowance are present in the audit observation memorandums,” Gutierrez said.

Earlier, OVP spokesperson Michael Poa stated that the office plans to appeal the notice of disallowance, emphasizing that it is “not yet considered final.”

Duterte has exchanged strong words with lawmakers in the budget hearings she had attended, saying she would “remain unbowed” against attacks on her.