VP Sara submits counter-affidavit on fund misuse allegations

Vice President Sara Duterte submitted her counter-affidavit to the Office of the Ombudsman on Friday, June 27, 2025, responding to allegations of fund misuse.

Her lawyers, Paul Lim and Michael Poa, filed the document in response to an order from the Ombudsman dated June 19.

The allegations include technical malversation, falsification of public documents, perjury, bribery, corruption of public officers, plunder, betrayal of public trust, and culpable violation of the Constitution.

These same allegations were initially considered by the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, which conducted inquiries.

However, the House panel clarified that it did not file a formal complaint before the Ombudsman but merely recommended the filing of charges.

The House committee found issues with acknowledgment receipts submitted by the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education to the Commission on Audit, citing wrong dates, signatories without birth records, unnamed or non-readable signatories, which were used to justify the disbursement of approximately P612.5 million in confidential funds.