ENEMIES of peace, progress and the people, driven by insidious motivations. That's what anybody who questions or criticizes Vice President Sara Duterte's allocations and use of confidential funds is deemed, in the vice president's opinion.

Fortunately, despite her popularity, the good vice president didn't gain public approval for tagging critics as insidious enemies of the people. On the contrary, the controversy surrounding the confidential funds and the speed with which the P125 million was spent by her office helped raise the public's respect for the very personalities the vice president considers insidious — the Makabayan bloc, the national democratic legislators in the House of Representatives. Insidious or not, they asked the hard questions needed to know if limited public funds are spent wisely. 'The government must be able to uphold public trust, especially in fund utilization. In this time of economic difficulties, there is more pressure to ensure that the people's money doesn't go to waste,' former Defense secretary and senator Orly Mercado wrote in his October 3 Manila Times column.