THE House of Representatives may launch an investigation into the individuals with records at the Philippines statistics body listed as recipients of Vice-President Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio’s secret funds for 2022 and 2023, a congressman said on Monday.
There are about 942 names listed as beneficiaries of secret funds from the offices held by Ms. Duterte, such as the Education department and the Office of the Vice-President, that are in the Philippine Statistics Authority’s (PSA) data, said House Deputy Majority Leader and La Union Rep. Francisco Paolo P. Ortega V.
“We will probably conduct our own mini investigation,” he said in Filipino. “But since it’s already at the committee level, we can make a request there.”
The estranged vice-president has been subjected to congressional probes into the alleged misuse of P612.5 million worth of confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) under Ms. Duterte’s office in 2022 and DepEd in 2023, which has been used by lawmakers as an indictment for her impeachment.
Mr. Ortega alleged that of the 1,992 listed recipients of confidential funds from the Office of the Vice-President, 1,322 lacked birth records, he said in a statement; while the House good government panel, which has investigated Ms. Duterte’s secret fund use uncovered that 405 out of the 677 names listed as beneficiaries of the Education department’s confidential funds under her leadership have no birth records.
The Office of the Vice-President did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
