BBM gave confidential funds; Sara used it as 'secret kitty'

Confidential funds at first melded the Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte political dynasties. It later melted their unity.

- JARIUS BONDOC

It all started in 2022:
• June 25, Sara asked the AFP for her own VP Security and Protection Group. Separate from the Presidential Security Group, VPSPG was to have 470 soldiers and policemen.
• Aug. 22, Sara sought P403.46 million additional cash for her Office of the VP. It included P250 million confidential fund. Unusual, because the OVP for six years under predecessor Leni Robredo never needed any CF.

Budget Sec. Amenah Pangandaman, of the Lanao political clan, gave Sara P221.4 million, including P125 million CF. Executive Sec. Lucas Bersamin, from the Abra political clan, justified it as "needed fund for new programs."

President BBM released the P221.4 million on Dec. 13. Sara used up the P125 million CF on Dec. 21-31 – only 11 days, including Christmas, Rizal Day and New Year's Eve holidays.
• Dec. 11, supermajority dynastic senators and congressmen enacted the 2023 national budget. Sara's OVP got P500 million CF and the Dept. of Education, of which she was then secretary, another P150 million CF. They granted themselves billion-peso pork barrels. BBM signed it into law Dec. 20.

Again unusual, because DepEd has no confidential projects. Still, dynasts claimed that Sara needed it to spy on school bullies.

Sara's OVP got P2.3 billion in all in 2023 – 223-percent increase from Robredo's P713.4 million in 2022. Robredo got only a little over P3 billion in six years.