By el Amigo
MANILA – Confidential government funds are not beyond examination simply because they carry a confidential designation, House prosecutor and Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima said Wednesday as the prosecution began presenting evidence involving ₱612.5 million released to Vice President Sara Duterte through the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education.
In her opening statement before the Senate impeachment court, De Lima stressed that officials responsible for managing public funds remain accountable to the people, regardless of the nature of the appropriation.
She argued that while confidential funds are intended for sensitive government operations, their classification does not shield public officials from constitutional standards of transparency and accountability.
To drive home the point, De Lima likened government budgeting to household financial planning, saying families carefully prioritize essential expenses because resources are limited. She said the same principle should guide the use of taxpayers’ money.
De Lima explained that confidential funds are designed to support surveillance and other sensitive activities carried out by civilian agencies. However, she emphasized that the constitutional doctrine that “public office is a public trust” applies to all government officials without exception.
She further clarified that confidentiality exists to safeguard legitimate operations and protect informants, not to justify the concealment of fraudulent transactions or the diversion of public funds.
According to De Lima, officials entrusted with confidential funds bear an even greater responsibility to ensure those resources are used lawfully and for their intended purpose.
She concluded by reminding the senator-judges that the Constitution assigns the impeachment court the duty of deciding whether Vice President Duterte committed culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption, or betrayal of public trust. The prosecution, she said, intends to demonstrate through its evidence that such offenses were committed in connection with the ₱612.5 million in confidential funds released through the OVP and DepEd.
elamigo/xf
