House firm on decision to scrap P1.2b in confidential funds amid Rody’s threat

A ranking leader of the House of Representatives on Monday said threats and intimidation will not make members of the chamber reconsider their decision to redistribute some P1.23 billion in confidential funds in the 2024 national budget.

House Deputy Majority Leader and Quezon City Rep. Franz Pumaren issued this statement after former President Rodrigo Duterte threatened ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro, in the wake of a House decision to strip away P650 million in confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) originally allocated to offices headed by his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, and moving them to agencies that have actual national security functions.

“As the good former president should know, we, as lawmakers duly elected by our respective constituents to represent their interests, do not respond well to threats and intimidation. If his allegations have bases, then he should go to the proper channels and file charges,” Pumaren said.

“But to insinuate bodily harm or even the murder of a member of the House of Representatives, this has gone too far. We urge the former president to be cautious and reasonable in his criticisms. There are more peaceful and effective ways to send his message through,” Pumaren added.

In an interview on the network owned by his religious adviser, Apollo Quiboloy, who is wanted in the United States for rape and human trafficking, Duterte said he told his daughter “to be frank” with the communists in Congress, including Castro.

“Be frank with France (Castro) and everyone — I mean, they are my friends…I love them, and at no other time in the history of the Philippines that the Communist Party of the Philippines were invited to Malacañang […] But because they are my friends, I cannot tell them squarely that we are enemies, and I want to kill them; I want to kill you softly because we are friends,” he said.

In defending the confidential funds sought by his daughter, ex-president Duterte also insinuated that the House has hidden “pork barrel,” which is illegal. He also said the Commission on Audit should take a look into the use of funds of the House.

A COA report released only last October 2, however, showed the House of