Despite her support to Office of the Vice President’s confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) Marikina City Rep. Stella Quimbo is spared from sanctions from the leadership of the Liberal Party.
“The defense of Rep. Stella Quimbo of the confidential funds, particularly of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, and the Maharlika Investment Fund, contrary to the collective position of the leadership and ranking members of the
Liberal Party of the Philippines, has resulted in some clamor to sanction Rep. Quimbo as a Party member, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said.
“Although it has to be noted that she has later conceded that the utilization and audit of secret funds must be made more transparent and officials made more accountable,” he said.
“The enduring tradition of the Liberal Party is to allow its members to take independent views on national issues in recognition of a member’s freedom of expression and dissent,” he added.
Quimbo is still a member of the Liberal Party, he said.
The foregoing decision was unanimously reached by the ManCom of the Party, together with some district representatives, and Lagman, as President of the Party, was authorized to issue this statement.
Speaker Martin Romualdez earlier said there was no quarrel between the House of Representatives and Vice President Sara Duterte, after lawmakers said they would redistribute confidential funds sought by the offices she leads to agencies that have a direct national security function.
“I think people are reading too much into it. I think it’s very, very straightforward and simple and intelligence funds) topic all came up and there were a lot of discussions and debates in the House and in fact even in the Senate,” Romualdez said.
“Borrowing the words of the vice president that she could live without it and she would leave it to the sound discretion of the Congress for its proper disposition, under the circumstances, we felt that it would best be realigned to the agencies” that deal directly with national security, he said.Congress is reviewing the confidential funds of all civilian agencies in the proposed 2024 national budget, and is not singling out any office, he added.
In a speech this week, Duterte, who is also Education secretary, said anyone who opposed the P650 million in confidential funds requested by her two offices was an “enemy of the people.