By Junex Doronio

STRESSING THAT THE DECISION to strip Vice President Sara Duterte’s P650-million confidential funds for 2024 was made “in the best interest of national security,” lawmakers crossed party lines to rally behind Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez and castigated former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte for making threats or insinuating harm against members of the Makabayan bloc in Congress.

Ironically, the older Duterte who once served as representative of Davao City’s first district from 1998 to 2001 is now facing House leaders who also cried foul over his claim that pork barrel funds still exist in the lower chamber.

“It is critical to remember that the ‘pork barrel’ system, which former President Duterte alluded to, has been deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Our Members are firmly committed to respecting and upholding this ruling. Rather than making sweeping allegations in the media, we advise the former president, if he has tangible evidence of wrongdoing, to present it to the appropriate authorities,” the House party leaders said in a joint statement on Saturday, October 14.

Leaders of political parties in the House of Representatives are now rallying behind Romualdez after former President Duterte accused him of “wallowing” in funds that he should be publicly accounted for.

In his earlier interview on SMNI, Duterte dared Romualdez to account for public funds that the House has been spending under him.

He also charged the Speaker of masterminding the attacks against his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, whose popularity has dived based on recent surveys that political analyst Ronald Llamas said to have occurred way before the public outrage on the issue of confidential funds.

The House party leaders pointed out that the decision to realign P1.3 billion in confidential funds—including the P650 million requested by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd) —was made “in the best interest of national security.”

“It is essential to understand that this decision was made for the nation’s benefit and not as a personal affront to any individual, including Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio,” the House leaders said.

The Vice President no longer uses her marital surname Carpio for unknown reasons.

They also noted that the request for confidential funds from at least three other civilian agencies, including the Department of Agriculture (DA) headed by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., was also rejected.

“Casting these decisions in a light of personal vendettas is a disservice to the diligent members of the House of the People and the very essence of our democratic process,” the party leaders chided FPRRD.

They said no less than the Commission on Audit (COA) attested to the House’s proper spending of its funds without any notice of disallowance. (ai/mnm)