SC asked: Declare Sara’s secret funds unconstitutional

MANILA, Philippines — Legal experts and former government officials yesterday filed a petition asking the Supreme Court (SC) to declare as unconstitutional the 2022 transfer of P125 million to the Office of the Vice President (OVP), which is under Sara Duterte, as a confidential fund.

Petitioners also asked the High Court to order the OVP, which spent the fund in just 11 days in December last year, to return the P125 million to the government’s treasury.

In their 49-page petition, petitioners argued that the decision of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to release the P125 million to serve as a confidential fund of the OVP was a “clear usurpation” of the legislative power of Congress.

The funds were released after then newly elected Vice President Sara Duterte requested P403.46 million for various purposes, P250 million of which were “confidential funds.”

The petitioners include Christian Monsod, one of the framers of the 1987 Constitution; former finance undersecretary Maria Cielo Magno; former Commission on Election commissioner Augusto Lagman; Ibarra Gutierrez, who served as spokesman of former vice president Leni Robredo and seven others.

Named respondents were VP Duterte for the OVP, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and DBM Secretary Amenah Pangandaman.

The petitioners argued that the transfer of funds from the national budget to the OVP is an exercise of legislative power, adding that it is Congress that decides how the budget will be spent, including on what programs or activities the money will be used.

They also argued that the transfer of the funds does not fall under the “delegated legislative power” of Congress under Special Provision No. 1 of the 2022 GAA.

Under the said special provision, the Office of the President (OP) has the power to “approve releases to cover the funding requirements of ‘new or urgent activities or projects that need to be implemented or paid.’”

The petitioners said the provision does not allow Congress to delegate powers that are purely legislative, which includes the authority to make a complete law.

“The appropriation by executive fiat in clear violation of the legislative intent does not fall under the delegated legislative power under Special Provision No. 1 of the Contingent Fund in the GAA for FY 2022,” the petition said. Further, the petitioners argued that confidential funds do not fall under the funding allowed by the contingent fund.

The petitioners said the OVP’s budget in 2022 has items for the good governance program and traveling expenses, where the funds should have been transferred, but instead the contingency fund of the OP was sent to the “inexistent” confidential fund of the OVP.

VP welcomes suit

Vice President Sara Duterte on Nov. 7 welcomed the petition challenging the constitutionality of her office’s P125-million confidential funds in 2022.

“We welcome the opportunity to discuss the legality of fund transfers. We hope that the wisdom of the Supreme Court will pave the way to finally end this matter,” Duterte said in a recorded statement.

With the petition pending before the SC, Duterte said she and her offices will remain focused on its mandates to raise “the level and quality of education in our country and protecting our students and DepEd staff from all kinds of threats and abuse.”

She also called on the public to focus on the rising prices of goods affecting “our students and their families.” — Neil Jayson Servallos