Solons want public disclosure on irregular use
MOVES to make public the questionable use of confidential funds is gaining headway at the House of Representatives now that lawmakers want the secrecy veil lifted in cases of irregularities.
Manila Rep. Joel Chua, chairperson of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, said lawmakers want the confidentiality lifted on the disbursement of the funds once the Commission on Audit (COA) issues a notice of disallowance (ND) to an agency or department for a particular expenditure.
“Ang isa po sa mga recommendation namin dyan ay ‘pag ang confidential fund ay nabigyan ng notice of disallowance, ito po ay mawawala po ‘yung confidentiality ng nature ng pondo at ito’y pwede nang usisain nang maigi (One of our recommendations is once a confidential fund is issued a notice of disallowance, the confidentiality of the fund will be lifted and it can be thoroughly scrutinized),” Chua told radio dzBB in an interview.
Chua said committee members are looking to file the measure even if they can also just ask the COA to rescind or amend Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2015-01, which governs the use of confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs).
The joint circular, dated January 8, 2015, was jointly issued by COA, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Governance Commission on GOCCs (GCG), and the Department of National Defense (DND).
Chua’s panel has been investigating Vice President Sara Duterte’s alleged misuse of confidential funds in both the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) when she was still the agency’s concurrent education secretary.
Chua said legislative measures arising from the investigation will be filed this coming week as part of efforts to ensure greater transparency and integrity in the use of confidential funds.
The fund misuse issue has been used by a group led by Akbayan party-list and another one led by the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) to file two separate impeachment complaints against the second highest elected official of the country.
The COA has disallowed P73.28 million of the P125 million confidential funds disbursed by the OVP in 2022 and ordered the Vice President to return the funds, which was spent in just 11 days, to the public coffers.
The COA has likewise issued Audit Observation Memorandums (AOMs) against the P375 million in confidential funds disbursed by the OVP in 2023 after finding irregularities in the use of the funds.
During the committee hearings, it was revealed that the OVP spent P16 million to rent 34 safe houses for just 11 days in late 2022, with one safe house costing nearly P91,000 per day.
The OVP was likewise found to have allocated P15 million for youth leadership summits supposedly conducted with the Philippine Army.
Military officials, however, have denied receiving such funds, saying the youth leadership summits were funded by the military and local government units, raising suspicions of misrepresentation and fabrication of activities to justify fund utilization.
Congressmen and netizens have also questioned the authenticity of the supposed recipients of the hundreds of millions of OVP’s and DepEd’s confidential funds.
In particular, lawmakers have raised suspicions on the existence of one “Mary Grace Piattos,” whose name appeared in the OVP’s acknowledgement receipts, saying she could be a made-up figure whose first name – Mary Grace – could have been taken from the name of a popular cafe diner, while the surname Piattos could have come from a known local potato chips snack brand.
‘SWEEPING REFORMS’
Chua said his panel is pushing for “sweeping reforms” because there is a need for “greater transparency and accountability, particularly for funds flagged with irregularities.”
Last October, Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros called on COA and the DBM to amend the joint circular after the House hearings revealed Duterte’s alleged misuse of confidential funds.
Chua said the panel will also recommend restricting confidential funds to specific government agencies directly involved in national security, intelligence gathering, and peace and order.
“Dapat limitado lang ang mga ahensya o mga departamento na binibigyan ng confidential fund, lalung-lalo na ‘yung mga ahensya at departamento na walang kinalaman sa intelligence gathering, sa national security, saka sa peace and order (The agencies and departments given confidential funds should be limited, especially agencies and departments that don’t have anything to do with intelligence gathering, national security and peace and order),” he said.
WRAPPING UP
The Chua panel, also known as the House blue ribbon committee, is concluding its investigation into the Vice President’s alleged misuse of a total of P612.5 million in confidential funds.
After seven hearings, the committee has uncovered extensive irregularities in the handling of P500 million in confidential funds by the OVP, spent between late 2022 and the third quarter of 2023, and P112.5 million allocated to the DepEd in 2023.
Chua said panel members will meet today to wrap up the probe ahead of a possible impeachment proceeding where the Vice President is expected to address the same allegations.
“Bukas (Monday) po, mga miyembro na lamang ang mag-uusap-usap, kami po ay magra-wrap up na (confidential funds) at isa-summarize kung ano ang mga nangyari (Tomorrow, members will meet among ourselves, and we’ll wrap up the investigation and summarize what happened),” he said.
“May mga nagpa-file na rin po ng impeachment sa ating Bise Presidente kaya minarapat po namin na i-wrap up na rin ito (Impeachment complaints have been filed against our Vice President so we have to wrap up the investigation),” he also said.
Chua said the impeachment process is the proper venue to address the complaints and allegations against Duterte. “Nevertheless, ito naman kasi saka-sakaling tutuloy ang impeachment process ay hahayaan na namin na sa impeachment na sagutin ang mga katanungan sa ating Bise Presidente (when this [impeachment process] pushes through, we’ll just allow the Vice President to answer the allegations during the impeachment proceedings),” he said.
Chua said the committee initially planned to invite and question the two security officials who handled the OVP’s and DepEd’s confidential funds but decided against it after learning that the AFP has launched its own internal investigation into their involvement.
“Napag-alaman namin na iniimbestigahan na rin sila ng AFP kaya hahayaan namin ang AFP na mag-conduct ng kanilang sariling investigation dahil sakop nila ito (We found out that they are also being investigated by the AFP, that’s why we’ll just let the AFP to conduct its own investigation because this is their jurisdiction),” he said.
‘FAKE’
Rep. Jude Acidre (PL, Tingog) said the Vice President’s claim that she is a target of an assassination threat is fake, just like the fabricated identities of Piattos and “Kokoy Villamin,” who was also one of the recipients of confidential funds.
The lawmaker cited the statements of AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Padilla and PNP spokesperson Police Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo, who both said there were no credible threats against the life of the Vice President.
“The supposed assassination threats against Vice President Duterte are fake—completely unfounded and baseless,” Acidre, chairperson of the House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs, said. “They are as fabricated as the names ‘Mary Grace Piattos’ and ‘Kokoy Villamin,’ which were used to justify the alleged misuse of confidential funds.”
“If there were any threats, the only one we’ve heard making them is the Vice President herself,” referring to Duterte’s controversial remark that she had allegedly hired an assassin to target President Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez should anything bad happen to her.
The National Bureau of Investigation has initiated a formal probe into the public statement of the Vice President.
