How Sara Duterte pockets or wastes our tax money

VIRTUAL REALITY

- TONY LOPEZ

Per records of the Commission on Audit and the House of Representatives, Vice President Sara Duterte spent money like there was no tomorrow, with singular alacrity and impunity. No hesitation. No caution. No ad cautelam.

In August 2022, barely two months into office, VP Duterte asked for additional funds from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

In the approved 2022 national budget, Sara's office had no provision for confidential funds. But she asked for confidential funds, P250 million to be exact. The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) scrounged the unauthorized money from other sources, but only partially, P125 million, in the name of a "Good Governance Program."

On Dec. 20, 2022, a check for P125 million in confidential funds was issued to the Office of the Vice President (OVP), signed by OVP Director for Administrative and Finance Services Rosalynne Sanchez and OVP Assistant Chief of Staff Lemuel Ortonio. On the same day, Special Disbursing Officer (SDO) Gina Acosta withdrew the entire P125 million from the Land Bank Shaw Boulevard in a single transaction. The cash was carted away, literally, in four large gym bags by Ms. Acosta and several companions. After 11 days, the money was gone.

Sara Duterte claimed to have spent the entire P125 million in just 11 days, between Dec. 21, 2022 and Dec. 31, 2022, which included four holidays, which means she wasted P17.857 million (P125 million divided by seven) of our money every working day. The money allegedly went to the following: