The confidential fund (CF) of the Department of Education (DepEd) will be used in connection with national security matters, Vice President Sara Z. Duterte said in an interview here Monday.

Duterte, who is also the Education secretary, said basic education and national security “are intertwined.“

“The youth is the hope of the country. However, they are being recruited [New People’s Army (NPA)], brought to use illegal drugs, criminality, violent extremism, and terrorism. We don’t want the future of the country to be like that,” she told local reporters.

DepEd, she said, has proof of recruitment to violent extremism and terrorism among the youth.

Western Mindanao, she said, is one of the hotspots for recruitment of individuals and groups espousing violent extremism.

She said the use of confidential funds has a legal basis and that there is no proof of wrongdoing from the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and DepEd for its utilization.

“It was duly approved by the Congress, and it was dispersed and utilized according to law. As to the approval, we leave it up to the discretion of the Congress and Senate for we can only propose based on what we know based on our work,” she said.

Addressing the critics of her office’s use of confidential funds, the Vice President said she was waiting for Act Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro to produce “documented proof” showing wrongdoing.

“They keep on attacking me, and I am just waiting for them to give me something concrete that I did something wrong. They keep on attacking in the hope that the lies they are peddling that I did something wrong would be stuck in the minds of the Filipinos,” she said during a speech at the opening of the Peace Village here.

“Everything is documented, legal, and based on law,” Duterte said. “I am waiting if they have the documents, a case filed or anything, to really show that the OVP is doing wrong.” (PNA)