VP asks dismissal of confidential funds cases

Vice President Sara Duterte (Photo: Inday Sara Duterte/Facebook)

MANILA – Vice President Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio has formally asked the Supreme Court to dismiss three petitions questioning the propriety of PHP125 million in confidential funds in the Office of the Vice President (OVP) under the 2022 budget.

In a 16-page consolidated comment filed before the tribunal last May 10, Duterte, through her counsel, former Solicitor General Estelito Mendoza, sought the dismissal of the petitions separately filed by Christian Monsod, Howard Calleja and the ACT Teachers Party-list.

Mendoza, in his comment, said “none of the petitions present an actual case or controversy and none of the petitioners alleged a legal demandable and enforceable right which calls for the exercise of judicial power.”

The mandate of the High Court, he said, “does not include the duty to answer all of life’s questions,” adding that “the petitions are mere apprehension and speculation about contingent funds or confidential funds, which does not constitute a justiciable controversy.”

Mendoza argued that the Court’s power “is not unbridled authority to review just any claim of constitutional violation or grave abuse of discretion.”