SENATOR Risa Hontiveros has called on the Senate Select Committee on Confidential and Intelligence Fund, Programs, and Activities to investigate the use of the Department of Education’s P112-million confidential fund in 2023.

In a statement, Hontiveros emphasized that DepEd’s recent admission confirms suspicions that allocating such a significant budget to an agency focused on education, rather than surveillance, was misguided from the beginning.

“This only confirms what many of us have feared—that allocating such a large budget to an agency tasked with education, not surveillance, was a mistake from the start,” Hontiveros said.

The DepEd had provided institutional backing and policy justification for the confidential fund requested by then-Secretary, Vice President Sara Duterte.

“If the department itself cannot explain how the confidential fund was used, and the former secretary avoids answering questions about it, this only deepens suspicions,” the senator added.

“Officials cannot simply wash their hands of the issue of using the confidential fund. If it was misused, those involved must be held accountable,” Hontiveros further stated.

The lawmaker also mentioned that she is awaiting the Commission on Audit’s report on the confidential and intelligence funds of various agencies.

“The Filipino people have the right to know how their hard-earned money is spent, down to the last centavo,” she said.