MANILA: A new petition was filed before the Supreme Court Monday questioning the confidential intelligence funds received by the Office of the Vice President last year. In a 34-page suit, members of the militant Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives asked the high court to ‘declare as unconstitutional and void the request, receipt and use of the said PHP125 million confidential funds by Vice President (Sara) Duterte.’ The suit also asked the high court to declare the funds ‘auditable by the COA (Commission on Audit) in the same manner as it audits public funds’ and to ‘order the restitution’ of the contested sum. The petitioners included incumbent party-list representatives Arlene Brosas (Gabriela) and France Castro (Alliance of Concerned Teachers); former House senior deputy minority leader Neri Colmenares (Bayan Muna); and former House deputy minority leader Carlos Zarate (Bayan Muna). The petition came a month after former Commissions on Elections chair Christian Monsod and lawyer Ibarra Gutie
rrez III, also a spokesperson of former vice president Leni Robredo, filed a similar suit contesting the confidential funds.
Source: Philippines News Agency
