MANILA, Philippines – Tiniyak ni Senador Risa Hontiveros na kanyang papanagutin ang sinumang naglipat nang hindi awtorisadong pondo patungo sa tanggapan ni Vice President Sara Duterte dahil wala ito sa General Appropriations Act noong 2022.
Sa pahayag, sinabi ni Hontiveros na hindi makatuwiran na nakapaglipat ng pondo sa alokasyon na hindi nakatakda sa pambansang badyet na inaprubahan ng Kongreso.
“How can they validly transfer funds to an allocation that doesn’t exist in the first place?,” tanong ni Hontiveros.
Sinabi ni Hontiveros na kung mapatutunayan ang illegal na paglilipat ng pondo, dapat may managot dahil malinaw na labag ito sa batas.
“Kung totoo at tama ang mga napabalitang report, dapat may managot sa unauthorized at malinaw na iligal na pagtransfer ng pondo papunta sa Office of the Vice President (OVP) noong 2022. These serious allegations and reports demand immediate investigation,” giit ni Hontiveros.
Idinagdag pa ng senadora na walang “confidential fund” ang OVP sa taong 2022 na maaring paglipatan ng pondo ng pamahalaan.
“In the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2022, there were zero items for any confidential funds earmarked for the Office of the Vice President. Ano ito, multo? May ghost transfer?,” aniya.
Binanggit ni Hontiveros ang nakatakda sa Section 25 (5) of Article VI of the 1987 Constitution na nagsasabing: “No law shall be passed authorizing any transfer of appropriations; however, the President, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the heads of Constitutional Commissions may, by law, be authorized to augment any item in the general appropriations law for their respective offices from savings in other items of their respective appropriations.”
“So while it is true that the law allows the President – among certain other officials – to realign or transfer appropriations which have become “savings,” these savings cannot augment a non-existent item in the GAA,” ayon kay Hontiveros.
“A reminder to everyone: “Confidential funds” are not cheat codes which can be used to blatantly violate existing laws and regulations,” paliwanag pa niya. Ernie Reyes
