A FORMER special disbursement officer (SDO) of the Department of Education (DepEd) on Monday night admitted distributing cash gifts to selected education officials, mostly superintendents, supposedly on orders of Vice President Sara Duterte who was then the concurrent education secretary.
The House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability chaired by Manila Rep. Joel Chua uncovered the irregular practice after Edward Fajarda told Rep. Jude Acidre (PL, Tingog) that the funds, which were not sourced from official DepEd channels, were disbursed to school superintendents.
“I was instructed by VP Sara,” Fajarda told lawmakers when asked why he solicited the personal bank account details of DepEd officials.
When asked where the funds came from, he said the Vice President, herself, handed the cash gifts to him for distribution.
“Binibigay ‘po ‘yun sa akin ni VP Sara (It was handed to me by VP Sara,” he said.
The admission of Fajarda, who was one of the four officials of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) who were earlier cited in contempt by the panel for ignoring previous invitations, prompted lawmakers to raise issues about transparency, accountability and potential misuse of public funds.
Former DepEd Undersecretary Gloria Mercado, chief accountant Rhunna Catalan, former Bids and Awards Committee chairperson Resty Osias and former Undersecretary and OVP spokesman Michael Poa have all admitted receiving cash gifts from the Vice President in previous hearings.
Mercado previously claimed that she received envelopes containing P50,000 monthly, allegedly from Duterte, while she was serving as the head of the procuring entity (HOPE) of the DepEd.
The 65-year-old Mercado testified that she was pressured to resign after she questioned the procurement process for the DepEd computerization program when Duterte was still education secretary.
The career professional, who served as the DepEd’s undersecretary for human resources and organization and development told the panel that she received nine envelopes containing a total of P450,000 between February 2023 to September 2023.
For her part, Catalan has also said that she was among those who received envelopes containing cash, which she described as an “allowance” from Duterte. She previously said the money was handed to her monthly from February to September 2023 by Fajarda’s wife, Sunshine Charry Fajarda, who was at the time DepEd assistant secretary.
She has also admitted being “requested” by Mrs. Fajarda to sign the liquidation vouchers for the P112.5 million in confidential funds, which were withdrawn as cash advances by Mr. Fajarda.
The funds in question were withdrawn through three separate checks, each worth P37.5 million, issued to the former DepEd SDO. The cash advances were made during the first three quarters of 2023.
Mr. Fajarda clarified to lawmakers that not all DepED superintendents were given cash gifts, which he said were meant to augment their salaries because the Vice President knew that they were spending their own money during field work.
“During po kasi sa pag-iikot ni VP Sara, nakita po niya ‘dun yung superintendent gumagastos ng sarili nilang pera sa office field work nila (During the times when VP Sara went around, she saw there that superintendents were spending their own money for their offices’ field work),” he said.
Acidre however presented Mr. Fajarda with screenshots and affidavits showing that a broader group of DepEd officials, particularly in Region 7, were asked to give their account details but the ex-education official maintained that not everyone received cash gifts and that the funds were not given regularly.
Acidre pointed out the lack of consistency in the process and raised concerns about the potential misuse of funds. He said the panel will seek the side of DepEd superintendents and regional directors in the next hearings.
Lawmakers criticized the practice, pointing out that the funds were not drawn from official DepEd allocations and lacked proper documentation or uniform guidelines for distribution.
“Public funds must come from legitimate sources and follow proper processes. These ‘extra’ funds only raise suspicions about the integrity of the system,” Acidre said.
Mr. Fajarda earlier told the hearing that Col. Dennis Nolasco, security officer at the DepEd, was the one who disbursed the agency’s P112.5 million confidential funds in 2023, while OVP SDO Gina Acosta said she disbursed P125 million of the agency’s 2023 secret funds to Col. Raymund Dante Lachica, head of the Vice President Security and Protection Group (VPSPG).
PLUNDER
Other administration lawmakers warned that such practice of releasing millions in confidential funds to security officers may eventually lead to the filing of plunder charges under certain conditions.
“If this was taken for personal gain, if it was proven fictitious and erroneous ‘yung ARs (acknowledgement receipts) to justify the taking of this amount, that could be malversation proper or worse, plunder kasi lampas na po ito sa P50 million (it’s plunder because it’s more than P50 million),” Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez told a joint press conference.
Zambales Rep. Jefferson Konghun said Duterte “bears the ultimate responsibility for these actions.”
“Nakikita natin na lahat sila ay sumusunod lamang sa utos ng ating Bise Presidente. Kung may makitang kailangan may managot, kailangan akuin ng ating Bise Presidente ang pananagutan dito sa pagkukulang (We saw that all of them just followed the Vice President’s orders. If there is someone who should be liable for irregularities, the Vice President has to own up to it),” he said.
Both Mr. Fajarda and Acosta have told the committee that they were aware that they will be the ones held liable if there are anomalies found in the use of confidential funds since as SDOs, they should have been the ones who personally paid intelligence providers and safe houses and not the security officers.
The lawmakers said the practice violated government protocols, particularly the Commission on Audit’s Joint Memorandum Circular of 2015.
“Sa kanila inihabilin ‘yung pera at sila ‘yung bonded officer (The money were entrusted to them and they were the bonded officers,” Chua told the same press conference. “Ang ibig sabihin po ‘nun (That means), in the event na may mangyari ‘dun sa pera, sila po ‘yung mag-reimburse (that something happens to the money, they will reimburse it),” he said.
Rep. Raul Angelo Bongalon (PL, Ako Bicol) agreed that the accountable officers are the two SDOs, while La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega V hit the normalization of irregular practices in the DepEd and OVP under Duterte.
“They all know the irregularities na ginawa nila (that they committed). Inamin naman nila lahat ‘yun (They all admitted that),” Ortega said. “Because they were too comfortable sa set-up na ‘yun, parang wala na lang, hind i na sinusunod ‘yung protocols nila (Because they were too comfortable under that set-up, it was like nothing, they violated their protocols).”
