THE House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability has called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to immediately issue an immigration lookout bulletin order (ILBO) against seven officials of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) who snubbed the panel’s subpoena in connection with its investigation into Vice President Sara Duterte’s alleged misuse of public funds.
Manila Rep. Joel Chua, panel chair, said his panel has received information that the seven individuals could be preparing to leave the country.
“Considering these developments, I earnestly request your office to issue a lookout bulletin order against these personalities,” Chua stated in his letter to Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla.
The officials named in the request include OVP chief of staff Zuleika Lopez, assistant chief of staff and Bids and Awards Committee chair Lemuel Ortonio, Administrative and Financial Services Director Rosalynne Sanchez, Special Disbursing Officer (SDO) Gina Acosta, and chief accountant Julieta Villadelrey.
The House panel also wants former DepEd Assistant Secretary Sunshine Charry Fajarda and Special Disbursing Officer (SDO) Edward Fajarda, who are now allegedly with the OVP, included in the ILBO.
The Fajarda couple were supposedly close aides of the Vice President during her tenure as DepEd secretary from July 2022 until she resigned in July 2024.
Chua told Remulla that the testimonies of the OVP officials are crucial to the panel’s investigation and in ensuring accountability for public funds.
“This action is imperative to monitor their movements and prevent any potential attempt to flee the country, which could significantly hinder our investigation and broader efforts to uphold the integrity of public service,” he said.
The investigation was the offshoot of a privilege speech delivered by Manila Rep. Rolando Valeriano, who accused Duterte of fund mismanagement in the OVP based on findings of the Commission on Audit (COA), which disallowed over P73 million of the P125 million in confidential funds allocated to the OVP in 2022.
COA found that that the amount was spent within just 11 days, from December 21 to 31, 2022, which meant that the OVP had spent an average of over P11 million per day.
In its Notice of Disallowance, COA ordered Duterte, along with Acosta and Villadelrey, as “accountable officials,” to return the P73 million to public coffers.
The Chua panel has also said it may recommend to the Office of the Ombudsman the filing of a plunder complaint against Duterte if she fails to account for her P112.5 million confidential fund cash advances when she was still education secretary.
Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. has said the Vice President still has the chance to explain where the money went as the panel continues to investigate the questionable disbursement which was uncovered during its hearing last October 17.
The funds in question were withdrawn through three separate checks, each worth P37.5 million, issued to DepEd SDO Edward Fajarda. The cash advances were supposedly made during the first three quarters of 2023, when Duterte was leading the department.
Chua has likewise said the panel is looking at two potential grounds to impeach the Vice President after administration lawmakers initially denied that there are moves to oust her at the House of Representatives.
He said the OVP’s use of P16 million in confidential funds for safe houses and DepEd’s use of P15 million for a youth summit when Duterte was the concurrent education secretary could be used as grounds to impeach her if she will not be able to justify the use of the secret funds.
According to Chua, the Vice President could face impeachment for graft and corruption for the alleged unaccounted P15 million in confidential funds spent by the DepEd for the Youth Leadership Summits (YLS) in 2023.
The panel has been pressing Duterte to explain why the DepEd falsely claimed to the COA that it used the P15 million for eight YLS events in 2023 when it was the AFP that paid for it.
Four military officers, including Army Col. Manaros Boransing, had told the panel that the Philippine Army and local government units spend their own funds for the YLS activities.
Lawmakers have found out that DepEd, in liquidating the P15 million, made it appear that it funded the YLS. The Duterte-led DepEd used the certifications issued by these officers to justify the expenditure of the P15 million, which was supposedly allocated for informant payments.
Chua said the Vice President could also be liable for betrayal of public trust for the OVP’s alleged overpriced rental payments for safe houses in the last quarter of 2022.
The P16 million for the rentals of 34 safehouses in just 11 days during the last quarter of 2022 came from the OVP’s P125 million confidential funds that year.
Lawmakers, in particular, could not believe the huge amounts that the OVP spent to rent safehouses, noting that one safehouse cost almost P91,000 per day, which is even more expensive than the rates of high-end resorts.
Records show the OVP made payments ranging from P250,000 to P1 million per property owner between Dec. 21 and 31, 2022.
Chua said the spending has acknowledgment receipts that were unsigned, illegible, with missing names, or only included signatures and lacked supporting documents like lease contracts, which raised questions about the transactions.
