Senator Raffy Tulfo raised concerns regarding the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) lease expenses for safe houses during the Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, pointing out that the office spent ₱16 million on 34 properties over an 11-day period in 2022.
Tulfo noted that the spending translates to approximately ₱42,780 per property on a daily basis—nearly three times the average daily rental fee for a luxury home in the prestigious Forbes Park neighborhood in Makati City.
During his interjection, Tulfo directed his questions to Commission on Audit (COA) state auditor Xylene Mae del Campo, comparing the OVP’s spending with prevailing 2022 market rates in Metro Manila’s high-end residential enclaves.
“Kasi lumilitaw, parang ₱42,780 per day ang bayad ng OVP para sa kanilang mga rental properties noong 2022. Sa halagang ₱16 million, na spend nila in 11 days,” Tulfo said.
Tulfo highlighted real estate figures from 2022, explaining that a luxury residence in Forbes Park rented for roughly ₱450,000 monthly (around ₱15,000 daily), while monthly rates in other high-end communities were even lower.
“(Sa) Corinthian, ₱200,000 a month. Divide that per day, ₱6,600. Sa Ayala Alabang, ₱290,000 per month. Per day, lalabas yan na ₱9,666,” the senator pointed out.
“Ito ba yung mga nirentahan ng OVP na safe houses nila? Galing ba sa mga nasabi ko na exclusive subdivisions?” he asked Del Campo.
Del Campo, who was testifying on the alleged misuse of confidential funds, explained that state auditors could not confirm the exact locations of the safe houses because the OVP omitted their physical addresses in official submissions.
“Walang nailagay na addresses nung kanilang safe house. Yung acknowledgment receipts lang yung naging basehan namin doon sa payment of rental of safe house,” the COA official said.
When asked whether other government agencies conducting intelligence operations incurred similar rental costs, Del Campo stated that the OVP’s disbursements were unusually high.
“Hindi ganoon kalaki,” she told Tulfo.
Del Campo subsequently agreed with Tulfo’s assessment regarding the scale of the OVP’s rental expenses.
“Pero kung dito, malaki talaga siya for payment of rental of safe house,” Del Campo said.