Vice President Sara Duterte addresses the media at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City on November 26, 2024. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — The Palace on Wednesday asserted that Vice President Sara Duterte must prove whether her office's alleged controversial confidential fund receipts are true or not.

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Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro said the additional list of supposed "fictitious" recipients of the Office of the Vice President's (OVP) confidential fund justifies the need for a more thorough investigation to ferret out the truth

"Kung ito man po ay nadiskubre po, siguro po mas paigtingin pa po talaga ang pag-iimbestiga patungkol po dito. Bakit po? Kasi karapatan po ng taumbayan malaman kung saan po talaga ginagasta ang pera ‘no, ang pondo ng bayan, ang kaban ng bayan kung saan po nadadala," Castro said in a press briefing Wednesday.

"Dapat po rin patunayan kasi as of the moment, sasabihin pa rin po nating may presumption of regularity patungkol diyan. Pero, since naku-question nga po ito ay dapat lamang pong patunayan ni VP Sara kung ang mga resibong ito ay totoo o hindi," she added. 

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When asked if the government would make a move for the Vice President to come home and answer the complaints herself, the Palace officer said Duterte should be mindful that she is a sitting vice president.

"Tingin ko dapat po isipin po niya na kailangan din po siya ng Pilipinas bilang Bise Presidente. Siya po dapat ay nagtatrabaho hindi lang para sa kaniyang ama although na acceptable po at maiintindihan po natin sa ngayon ang kaniyang nararamdaman," Castro stated. 

Duterte is currently in the Netherlands to attend to the needs of her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, who is accused of "crimes against humanity" before the International Criminal Court.

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