Legal experts and former government officials jointly submitted on Tuesday ( 07 November 2023) a petition to the Supreme Court, to challenge the constitutionality of Vice President Sara Duterte’s confidential funds and urge the court to order the return of these funds to the treasury department.
Contained within their 49-page petition was a claim that the disbursement of P125 million in confidential funds to the Office of the Vice President by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) the previous year amounted to a clear encroachment on the exclusive powers of Congress.
Among the individuals initiating the petition were Attorney Christian Monsod, Attorney Barry Gutierrez, former Finance Secretary Dr. Cielo Magno, former Commissioner of the Commission on Elections Gus Lagman, Attorney Katrina Monsod, and Attorney Ray Paolo Santiago.
Photographs of the petitioners were taken at the Supreme Court, and they also held a press conference on Ma. Orosa Street in Manila for a question-and-answer session with members of the media.
(Report & photography by Benjamin Cuaresma)