House prosecution spokesperson Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong called on senator-judge Robin Padilla to refrain from asking questions that dwelled into hypothetical scenarios when it came to the use of confidential funds of Vice President Sara Durterte.

The lawmaker noted that the facts on how the funds were allocated was clear based on the testimonies of Duterte’s staff, noting that a portion of the amount was used as additional salary for the security guards of the Vice President in spite of the numerous issues facing the sector.

“Let us not waste our time on hypothetical questions. Let’s get back to reality. When DepEd requested for confidential funds when Vice President Sara Duterte was secretary, were the funds properly implemented?” Adiong asked during a press briefing.

The stance of the solon was in response to the line of questioning of Padilla who sought to identify whether the recent school shooting incidents in Tacloban and Zamboanga could have been prevented if the Department of Education (DepEd) currently had confidential funds.

Rather than diving into the “parallel universe,” however, Adiong said that previous hearings into the impeachment settled that the primary issue when talking about confidential funds came with how the same was utilized.

“Out of the DepEd confidential funds in the first, second, and third quarter, there were already some that were hit with an initial issuance of disallowance. What that means is that the question is not really about the confidential funds but how it was spent,” he said.

In the same press conference, Kabataan Partylist Rep. Renee Co explained that the reason that Education Secretary Sonny Angara had no requests for confidential funds was because it was clarified that DepEd was in no position to ask for such funding.

As for the shooting incidents that took place in schools, Co said that the issue should not be viewed in a single perspective, given that the problem was multi-layered in nature.

Instead of relying on confidential funds, the lawmaker mentioned that the matter had to be resolved through passing legislation rather than depending on DepEd to once again go against its mandate.

“What if the money that was used for confidential and intelligence funds were placed on mental health professionals, was placed for the construction of classrooms so that the youth would no longer struggle and lead to the school shootings we are currently experiencing,” she said.

With the way things have unfolded, Co said that the prosecution panel was left with the task of seeking accountability from Duterte.

On Tuesday, 1 September, prosecutors are expected to proceed with the presentation of witnesses concerning the DepEd confidential funds, particularly the military personnel that signed the liquidation reports that were submitted to the Commission on Audit.

Aside from law enforcement authorities, the panel had also manifested last Wednesday, 26 August, that it intends to present former education undersecretary and Duterte defense lawyer Atty. Michael Wesley Poa.