Petitioners ask SC to allow disclosure of confidential fund use

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 15) – Lawyers, law students, and priests filed a petition on Wednesday asking the Supreme Court to order Vice President Sara Duterte, Congress, and the Commission on Audit (COA) to provide documents showing how the Office of the Vice President (OVP) spent its 2022 confidential funds.

“This boils down to public funds being used for confidential purposes," retired Justice Antonio Carpio, one of the petitioners, told reporters. «Even if it's confidential, the Constitution says the people have the right to know and public officials have the duty to disclose unless there is a law providing reasonable limits.»

«Wala naman pong batas. Ang pinapakita nila yung EO (executive order) ni (former President Rodrigo) Duterte and yung COA (circular). Hindi naman ito batas,» Carpio explained.

[Translation: There is no law. What they're showing is the EO of former president Duterte and the COA circular.]

On Oct. 17, petitioners sent a demand letter to the OVP and even to the Office of the President and other offices requesting copies of «official records, documents, and papers» related to disbursements and liquidations of confidential funds since 2022.

The OVP denied their request, stating that the documents «are covered by the exceptions to the right of access to information» citing EO 2 or the Freedom of Information order andJoint Circular 2015-01.

Joint Circular 2015-01 provides guidelines on the disbursement and liquidation of confidential funds, while EO 2 (S. 2016) operationalizes in the executive branch the right to information and state policies to full public disclosure and transparency.

Petitioners sought to declare Circular 2015-01 and EO 2 (S. 2016) as unconstitutional because they are not laws passed by Congress.

They said there is no reason for the respondents to deny their request because there is no law that exempts full public disclosure of all government transactions.

With no exception by law, petitioners said failure to provide documents on how the confidential funds were spent violates their constitutional right to «full public disclosure» and «right to information on matters of public interest.»

"Ako personally,