Photo source: Inday Sara Duterte Facebook page
Vice President Sara Duterte is currently protected by 335 government security personnel, despite earlier statements that she would turn to private services for her safety, according to the Commission on Audit (COA).
The COA said her current detail is smaller than the 433 personnel under the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG) in 2022, the start of her term.
Duterte added 10 more escorts in 2023, the audit report showed.
The vice president flew to The Hague on Monday to again visit her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, who lost his appeal on Nov. 28 for interim release from International Criminal Court (ICC) detention.
Apart from payroll expenses, the Office of the Vice President (OVP) spent P5.020 million in donations of motor vehicles to the VPSPG.
The OVP also donated vehicles to two elementary schools, but these were later found “unserviceable,” according to state auditors.
Earlier on Monday, the COA also reported that the OVP spent P3.4 million last year for its livelihood assistance program “Mag Negosyo ‘Ta Day.”
Auditors said that while beneficiaries were eligible, the OVP did not conduct a thorough study on the feasibility or economic viability of their proposed projects.
A check on Duterte’s staffing showed that her 335 security personnel made up nearly half of the OVP’s 780-member workforce.
In December last year, Duterte said she was considering hiring private security because she “does not trust” the government, even as critics questioned her frequent travels, including 18 trips abroad this year, most of them to The Hague.