Kapunan to VP: Transparency must start with yourself

Vice President Sara Duterte must first address the allegations she faces before the Senate impeachment court before she preaches transparency in government, a private prosecutor said.

Atty. Lorna Kapunan, a counsel for the House Prosecution panel, said Wednesday that Duterte should examine her work first before implying that she was being singled out in the call for accountability.

“If you want transparency, start with yourself. Where are you spending your billions in… vice presidential funds?” Kapunan said during a press conference.

The billions that the lawyer referenced were the approved P2.3 billion budgets that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) had for fiscal year 2023 — an amount that included her requested P500 million in confidential funds.

For good governance

Kapunan argued that the amount should have been used for projects under the supposed “good governance program” that the confidential funds were meant to support.

Gina Acosta, the former special disbursing officer of the OVP, testified on Monday, 17 August, that the program included initiatives such as tree planting activities and the Vice President’s “Libreng Sakay” program.

Amid the supposed improper use of confidential funds, the lawyer mentioned that lawmakers and even President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should not be blamed for providing Duterte with the funding, given that she was trusted to make use of public funds for their proper purpose.

“If you are pointing a finger at all other government agencies, there are three fingers pointing back at you. So, you start with yourself and start with presenting yourself, accounting for public funds in the impeachment court,” Kapunan said.