November 17, 2025 | 12:19pm
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte assailed President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. anew for his handling of the flood control corruption scandal, even as she has repeatedly shrugged off calls to detail how she spent millions in confidential funds as vice president and former education secretary.
In a statement posted by the Office of the Vice President on Monday, November 17, Duterte said Marcos faces a “profound crisis of confidence” in how corruption investigations are being handled, which “appear to lack both direction and resolve.” She demanded answers on how the 2025 budget that “deprived Filipinos of billions and billions of pesos” was approved under his watch.
She also repeated the claim that the House of Representatives manipulated the Department of Education budget and turned millions of funds meant for classrooms and other materials into “pork barrel” divided among lawmakers close to those in power.
Duterte resigned as Department of Education secretary mid-2024, a decision she later explained was due to her dismay with Congress’ insertions in the DepEd budget, and also to “shield” the department from her own controversies.
“I chose not to participate in deceiving the people. In my resignation as DepEd secretary, I endured attacks from all sides, including impeachment, just to expose the corruption in the 2025 budget,” she said in the video.
The OVP’s statement came a day after separate rallies were organized by Iglesia Ni Cristo followers and Duterte supporters in different areas of Metro Manila over the weekend. The protest led by Duterte loyalists featured calls for Marcos to resign. The vice president did not attend these protests.
Recap. But Duterte’s own record on transparency has repeatedly drawn controversy and even served as one of the major bases for the filing of impeachment complaints against her. House investigations surfaced records that show confidential fund receipts bearing suspicious names like “Mary Grace Piattos” — a name that the Philippine Statistics Authority confirmed does not exist. In total, over 1,300 fund recipients did not have records with the PSA.
Duterte had refused to explain the fictitious names, saying it would compromise intelligence operations.
The OVP was similarly placed under scrutiny for its quick spending of P125 million in confidential funds in just 11 days in 2022. This secret fund was downloaded to Duterte’s office by the office of Marcos himself.
Duterte was also previously criticized for having confidential fund allocations in the Department of Education even as it was a civilian agency whose primary mandate did not include security or intelligence operations. In 2024, then-DepEd Spokesperson Michael Poa said the agency’s confidential funds were used to prevent the alleged participation of students in “illegal activities” by terrorist groups.
