Scale of VP Sara's alleged fund misuse breaches plunder threshold – House panel

MANILA, Philippines — The high-profile probe into Vice President Sara Duterte's alleged misuse of public funds involves amounts that breach the legal threshold for plunder, the House panel chairperson leading the inquiry said on Wednesday, September 25. 

Rep. Joel Chua (Manila, 3rd District), chairperson of the House good government committee, said the "sheer vastness" of the funds being scrutinized justifies the continued conduct of the hearings, which Duterte has repeatedly criticized for being a political attack against her. 

"[The] sheer vastness of these potentially misused funds sets this matter apart from other instances of irregularity and disallowance – these amounts easily surpass the threshold for the crime of plunder under our laws," Chua said in statement at the start of the House panel's second hearing.

The House panel is intent on getting to the bottom of the Office of the Vice President's (OVP) alleged irregularities under Duterte, which Chua described as having "astronomical, almost unimaginable amount of money involved."

Under Philippine laws, the crime of plunder can only be committed by government officials who acquire ill-gotten wealth worth P50 million. 

Duterte is being accused of misusing the confidential funds she received in 2022 after state auditors flagged the OVP's utilization of the secret fund. 

Specifically, the Commission on Audit issued a notice of disallowance on P73 million of the P125-million confidential funds the OVP received in 2022, which Duterte's office spent in 11 days. 

A notice of disallowance means the transaction was disapproved either in whole or in part. An agency that receives this notice is being asked to return what they spent to government coffers as the transaction was deemed unnecessary, excessive, extravagant or illegal.  

"What we have seen regarding the usage by the OVP of its confidential funds certainly gives this committee – and the country – cause to want to find out the facts behind this," Chua said.

The lawmaker added that the goal of the panel is to eventually craft the necessary laws to "protect our people's hard-earned money."

In a letter to Chua dated September 23, Duterte said she will not attend the hearing because of what she sees as its pursuit of "unsubstantiated allegations." The vice president also said the House cannot compel her or other resource persons to face committee hearings. 

Duterte attended the panel's first inquiry last week but refused to take an oath, citing House rules that only require witnesses and not resource speakers to testify under oath.

The vice president has repeatedly rejected the allegations that she misused the secret  funds she obtained in 2022 and 2023. She also calls attempts by House lawmakers to get her to explain how she spent her confidential funds as "political attacks." 

For Chua, however, there is no politics involved in the panel's attempt to seek answers behind Duterte's use of funds. 

“This investigation is not prompted by any motive other than a desire to make the numbers make sense,” Chua said.