TWO administration lawmakers yesterday criticized Vice President Sara Duterte’s decision to skip the hearings of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability on her alleged misuse of confidential funds, calling it a “deliberate evasion of accountability.”
Reps. Jefferson Khonghun of Zambales, a leader of the Young Guns bloc, called out the Vice President for allegedly trying to fool the public once again by saying that she was only invited by the panel once.
“Walang masama sa affidavit. Pero ang problema ay ‘yung ‘budol’ style niya – sinasabing hindi siya inimbitahan, pero ngayong may pagkakataon siyang linawin ang isyu, ayaw niyang humarap. Kung walang itinatago, bakit hindi kayang sagutin nang harapan ang tanong ng Kongreso at ng taongbayan? (There’s nothing wrong with submitting an affidavit but the problem is her ‘budol’ style —claiming she was not invited but doesn’t want to face us now that she has the chance to clear the issue. If there’s nothing to hide, why not directly answer the questions of Congress and the people?),” Khonghun said.
Duterte last Friday said the Office of the Vice President (OVP) would send the House a letter explaining the issues related to and submit an affidavit about the use of its confidential funds.
The panel chaired by Manila Rep. Joel Chua earlier requested Duterte to attend its next hearing on Wednesday to address issues regarding the questionable utilization of hundreds of millions in confidential funds in both the OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd), which Duterte used to head as concurrent education secretary.
The Vice President claimed that she was only invited by the panel once, last September, but Chua disputed it, saying the Vice President was invited to both the first and second hearings, held on September 18 and 25.
Khonghun said submitting an affidavit instead of appearing in person “undermines the principles of transparency and accountability.”
“The House blue ribbon committee has given the Vice President every opportunity to clarify the use of public funds under her office. Ang tanong ng taongbayan: Nasaan ang malinaw na paliwanag (The people’s question is: Where is the clear explanation)?” he said.
“As public servants, our duty is to the people. Vice President Duterte owes it to the Filipino people to provide answers —not just on paper, but in person,” he added.
Rep. Paolo Ortega V of La Union said: “Isang pambubudol na naman ito sa ngalan ng panawagang sumagot si VP Sara dahil gagamitin ang affidavit para makatakas at hindi na mag-appear sa hearing. Hindi ito sapat para linawin ang mga isyu ng confidential funds (This is another ploy to dupe the public in the face of calls for VP Sara to answer because she will use the affidavit as an excuse not to attend the hearing. This is enough to answer the issues on confidential funds).”
“Harapin niya ang mga tanong ng publiko at ng Kongreso (She has to face the questions of the public and Congress),” Ortega said. “Kung magpapatuloy ang pag-iwas, lalong magdududa ang publiko. Huwag natin hayaan ang mga ‘budol’ tactics na maghari (If she will continue to avoid [attending the House hearing], the public will suspect her more. Let’s not allow ‘budol’ tactic to prevail).”
Duterte attended the first hearing on September 18 but refused to take an oath to “tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth” given to resource persons in congressional inquiries.
She also refused to answer lawmakers’ questions and left early after delivering a brief statement criticizing the investigation. She has since skipped subsequent hearings, citing constitutional concerns and questioning the investigation’s necessity.
Last Monday, the good government panel cited in contempt four OVP officials who snubbed its hearing even after being subpoenaed.
The four who were cited in contempt and ordered arrested were OVP assistant chief of staff and Bids and Awards Committee chair Lemuel Ortonio, special disbursing Officer (SDO) Gina Acosta, and former Department of Education (DepEd) Assistant Secretary Sunshine Charry Fajarda and SDO Edward Fajarda, who transferred to the OVP after Duterte resigned as education secretary last July.
The Vice President has said three of the four OVP officials who were cited in contempt failed to attend the hearings because of activities supposedly related to the OVP’s 89th anniversary.
OVP administrative and financial services Director Rosalynne Sanchez and Chief Accountant Julieta Villadelrey and budget division chief administrative officer Kelvin Gerome Teñido attended the hearing, but said they were not privy to the disbursement of confidential funds.
The OVP officials are being summoned explain the adverse audit findings of the Commission on Audit (COA) in the use of the confidential funds of the OVP and DepEd, particularly the P73 million that it has disallowed and has asked the Vice President and two other officials to return to the government.
The P73 million was part of the P125 million confidential funds in 2022 which the OVP spent in just 11 days.
The COA has also issued Audit Observation Memorandums (AOM) for the P375 million confidential funds spent in the first three quarters of 2023 because of alleged irregularities.
The Chua committee is also looking into the P112.5 million in confidential funds allocated in 2023 to DepEd when Duterte was still heading the department.
The three OVP officials all testified that they have no personal knowledge of how the P500 million in confidential funds were spent by the OVP.
