By Jomel R. Paguian

A NEW petition seeking a review of the constitutionality of confidential funds in government and the disclosure of how these were spent by the country’s top officials was filed before the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday.

Leading the long list of petitioners were former SC senior associate justice Antonio T. Carpio, lawyers Howard M. Calleja and Joseph Peter Calleja, former senator Richard J. Gordon, and other concerned citizens.

The petition was filed against respondents Vice President Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio, Senate President Juan Miguel F. Zubiri, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, and Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin.

Facing media, Mr. Carpio said: “What we’re asking is for the full disclosure of VP Sara’s confidential funds — full disclosure, because there is no law providing for reasonable limitations.”

In the 45-page certiorari and mandamus petition, the petitioners urged the High Court to nullify Executive Order No. 2 and Joint Circular No. 2015-01 which outline guidelines for the disbursement and liquidation of confidential funds, which the petitioners argue are inconsistent with the 1987 Constitution and an “usurpation of legislative power.”

The petitioners argued that the disbursement of confidential funds contradicts Section 28, Article II of the 1987 Constitution which states that the State adopts and implements a policy of full disclosure.  Additionally, they pointed out a breach of Section 7, Article III, which acknowledges the people’s right to information on matters of public concern.

The petitioners explained in a press briefing that the said joint circular mandates agencies to submit documents to support their confidential funds to Commission on Audit (CoA) — something that the offices with confidential funds failed to do.

The petitioners also requested the High Court to compel the vice president, the Senate, House, and state auditors to provide the report on expenses and liquidation of the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) 2022 confidential funds.

“This is a case for full accountability and transparency of public funds and we are hoping that with this case, confidential funds will no longer be abused by both national and local government units,” Mr. Howard Calleja told BusinessWorld through Messenger.

Additionally, the petitioners sought a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, and/or mandamus from the SC to prevent irreparable harm to petitioners due to the infringement of their rights.

During the press briefing, Mr. Calleja urged Congress to enact a law that would lay down standards for the proper usage of confidential and intelligence funds.

“We are knocking on the doors of Congress, urging for the enactment of laws. Perhaps you may want to wake up a bit. Let’s create laws to establish standards on what constitutes confidential and intelligence funds, and their proper utilization and purposes,” he said in Filipino.

This is the second Supreme Court petition filed against the OVP. The first was filed by former Election chief Christian S. Monsod, former Finance Undersecretary Maria Cielo D. Magno and other lawyers to question the constitutionality of the transfer of P125 million in confidential funds to the Office of the Vice President last year.

Mr. Calleja said their petition is different from the first one because it questioned the legality of the fund itself.

“This has nothing to do with the transfer [of funds] from the president to the OVP. It has to do with the fund itself. The question whether or not the fund is constitutional and whether or not it is subject to open public disclosure and public accountability,” he said.

THE NUMBER of Filipinos opting to study abroad has increased to 53,000, with most students going to Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand or Ireland, global education experts said on Wednesday.

“In terms of growth, the market [of Filipino students growing abroad] is growing between 8% to 13% every year,” said IDP Philippines country director Jojo Habana in a press briefing, citing that in their firm alone, the number of students applying for overseas education jumped to 56% year on year.

Maria Cecilia Mundo, IDP Philippines head of sales and operation, said Filipinos are most inclined to college programs related to business management, health, information and technology, analytics, hospitality, tourism, and engineering.

Hannah Jodeza Esguerra said Filipino students are likely to get accepted abroad with their generally high scores in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

Ms. Esguerra said the average IELTS score for Filipino students pursuing academic studies abroad is 6.8 on a 0 to 9 scale. She said Filipinos also have a competitive listening skills score of 7.2 by the average.

Mr. Habana added that their records show that Filipinos studying abroad come from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds to enter their desired college programs not available in the Philippines and to land a job abroad.

The country director added that scholarships for students would be significant as school fees abroad would range from P1.8 million to P2.5 million per year, excluding living expenses.

To gear up for the increase in demand for overseas education, IDP Philippines, an Australian-listed company, opened its eighth student placement office and 15^th IELTS computer test center in Quezon City. — Jomel R. Paguian

THE SUPREME Court (SC) has directed Maguindanao del Norte Vice Governor Bai Fatima Ainee L. Sinsuat to explain why she failed to inform the Court about her appointment as vice governor.  

The High Court asserted that Ms. Sinsuat had to inform the Court that she had accepted the appointment as vice governor, voiding her claim as the acting governor of the province. 

“The Court ruled that Sinsuat is deemed to have abandoned her claim to the position of Governor of Maguindanao del Norte when she accepted her appointment, took her oath, and assumed office as Vice Governor of Maguindanao del Norte,” the Court said in a statement released to media on Wednesday. 

Ms. Sinsuat, elected as the last vice governor of the now-divided Maguindanao province, assumed the role of Maguindanao del Norte governor on Aug. 14. This followed her appointment as acting vice governor in April, alongside Abdulraof Macacua as the officer-in-charge. 

The controversy stemmed from Ms. Sinsuat’s interpretation of an SC order in June, claiming it validated her position as the province’s governor. The Office of the Solicitor General argued that Ms. Sinsuat, by accepting the vice governor position and taking the oath, effectively abandoned her claim as acting governor. 

“The Court, however, deemed it proper to order Sinsuat to show cause why she should not be cited in contempt. It lamented that while the Court takes judicial notice of the official acts of the President in appointing Sinsuat, the parties should have at least informed the Court of the supervening events which significantly altered the possible outcome of the case,” said the High Court. 

“The Court remarked that Sinsuat’s silence and omissions appear to constitute intentional concealment which tends to disrespect the Court’s authority as final dispenser of justice,” it added. 

Ms. Sinsuat was given 10 days from notice to explain why she should not be cited in contempt. — Jomel R. Paguian

THE METROPOLITAN Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said on Wednesday that it would thoroughly investigate the vehicle that wrongfully used the EDSA bus carousel on the alleged pretense that Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr. was on board. 
Facing the media at the Senate, Mr. Revilla, Jr. disputed the initial report quoting MMDA Task Force Special Operations chief Bong Nebrija, and stated that he was wrongfully identified as the person in the vehicle. 
On the same day, the MMDA leadership placed Mr. Nebrija under suspension, pending investigation into the incident.  

In the same media forum, Mr. Nebrija clarified that he mentioned Mr. Revilla’s name in his initial report, despite not personally seeing the senator in the convoy because it was the name provided to him by one of the enforcers. 

“It was not our intention to defame Senator Bong Revilla… It’s just that your name was the one that was passed on,” said Mr. Nebrija in Filipino. “Please forgive us, senator; it was not our intention to discredit you.” 

In a confrontation, Mr. Revilla told the MMDA chief to not drag a senator’s name on allegations based on hearsay. 

“Don’t you have a body camera, 60,000 (pesos) per camera? Then you’ll believe in hearsay, and you’ll mention it in the media? Then you’ll name-drop a senator. You’re not sure, just hearsay,” the senator told Mr. Nebrija. 

“We’ve been following traffic laws. I’ve been through a lot in life, and you’ll just ruin it like that?” added the senator. 

In a statement, the MMDA said that the license plate of the apprehended vehicle bears a low-numbered “protocol” plate which the Land Transportation Office only issues to high-ranking government officials.  

“Based on our CCTV footage, the license plate of the flagged down vehicle is protocol plate, and we are probing why the name of the senator was being involved,” the MMDA said. 

The MMDA said that only authorized vehicles such as public utility buses, emergency vehicles, and clearly-marked government vehicles responding to emergencies, are allowed to take the EDSA Bus Carousel lane. — Jomel R. Paguian