House leaders on Thursday dismissed as unfounded accusations of corruption and maleficence hurled by Vice President Sara against the chamber’s leadership, calling it another deliberate effort to shift controversy surrounding her “misuse” of confidential funds away from the public eye.

Lawmakers issued the statement in response to Duterte’s insinuations about the supposed corruption-tainted and 2025 national budget. The VP pointed to the House leadership, specifically Speaker Martin Romualdez, as the principal culprit of the alleged irregularities in the national expenditure.

She made the remark in response to a query about the purported ouster of Romualdez.

House Deputy Speaker David “Jayjay” Suarez, a key ally of the administration, took up the cudgels for the House chief, asserting that the accusations are “entirely unfounded,” coming from the very mouth of the second-highest official who, herself, was impeached over allegations of graft and corruption.

“The real issue here is the confidential funds that Vice President Sara Duterte spent in merely 11 days, and why the recipients of it have names that appear to be fictitious,” Suarez pointed out.

The so-called bogus names include “Mary Grace Piattos,” “Jay Kamote,” “Miggy Mango,” “Mico Harina,” “Ralph Josh Bacon” and “Erwin Q. Ewan,” which lawmakers suggested mimic those of celebrities and grocery items.

“[They] seem to be made-up names. This is what she should be explaining, not pointing an accusing finger at others,” Suarez added.

“Instead of hurling grave accusations, it would be best if she would face legitimate questions about the use of confidential and intelligence funds amounting to over P600 million,” House Deputy Majority Leader Paolo Ortega V chimed in.

In the same vein, Ortega pointed out that the purported irregularities in the utilization of her confidential funds were flagged by the Commission on Audit itself.

Duterte has been in hot water over the so-called bogus recipients of her multi-million-peso confidential funds, with lawmakers speculating that the acknowledgment receipts were fabricated or hastily prepared to justify the use of the funds.

Duterte was accused of misappropriating P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to the OVP (P500 million) and the Department of Education (P112.5 million), which she headed for nearly two years.

State auditors flagged a significant portion of it, citing, among others, the lack of “documents evidencing the success of information gathering and/or surveillance activities” for which the funds were intended to be used.

Vice President Duterte has strongly denied any wrongdoing involving her confidential funds. She also cast doubt on the authenticity of the names that the House had alleged as beneficiaries of her secret funds.

Duterte was accused of misappropriating P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to the OVP (P500 million) and the Department of Education (P112.5 million), which she headed for nearly two years.

This, in addition to her alleged plot to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Romualdez, was among the grounds outlined by the House under the seven articles of impeachment, signed by 215 lawmakers, to impeach her.

Duterte has maintained that all of these are “well-funded” and “coordinated political attack” to derail her ambitions to succeed former ally-turned-foe Marcos in the 2028 elections.

She will face trial in the Senate impeachment court when the 20th Congress takes over in late July.

The Senate will need a two-thirds vote or at least 16 of the 24 sitting senators to convict Duterte. If convicted, she will be perpetually disqualified from holding any public office in the future, including her alleged ambition to run for president.