OVP confi funds transfer 'illegal,' petitioner Castro insists

One of the petitioners challenging the legality of the transfer of P125 million worth of confidential funds to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) in 2022 on Wednesday maintained that the transfer was unconstitutional.

"The controversial case is not just theoretical but has caused millions of pesos that should have been allotted to Filipinos who are in need," ACT Teachers party-list Representative France Castro said in a statement.

"This illegal and unconstitutional transfer of P125 million to the Office of the Vice President for confidential funds violated all rules on the proper use of such funds," she added. 

Castro issued the statement in response to the OVP's formal comments on the petitions where it said that "none of the petitions present an 'actual case or controversy' and none of the petitioners alleged a 'legally demandable and enforceable right,' which calls for the exercise of 'Judicial Power.'"

The OVP's comment, which was submitted before the Supreme Court, also contended that the petitions filed by Castro and the others "are mere apprehension and speculation about contingent funds or confidential funds, which does not constitute a justiciable controversy."

But according to Castro, the transfer "represents a massive redirection of public resources away from essential services and towards opaque purposes with no accountability."

"It is a glaring example of bureaucrat capitalism and should be stopped," she said.

Castro said she and the other petitioners from the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives are calling on the Supreme Court to direct the Commission on Audit (COA) to audit how the funds were spent. 

Based on COA records mentioned during last year's budget hearings at the House, the OVP spent the P125-million confidential fund in 11 days.

Castro, in her statement, reiterated that the 2022 national budget did not provide a confidential fund item for OVP and there was no congressional authorization on the transfer of the fund from the President's contingent fund. 

"This is in clear violation of our laws. This case goes beyond just theoretical arguments about budget rules," she said.

In August 2023, Vice President Sara Duterte maintained that there was "nothing irregular or unauthorized" about how the funds were spent. She also told Makabayan bloc to “end its rabid vilification of OVP over the 2022 CF if it doesn’t have any substantive information to back up imputations of misuse.”

“These incessant malicious attacks betray the Makabayan bloc’s lack of respect for the Filipinos being served by OVP and their inability to appreciate OVP’s involvement in the fight against insurgency, terrorism, and social inequality,” Duterte said. —KBK, GMA Integrated News