THE chairperson of the House Committee on Good Government yesterday accused Vice President Sara Duterte of trying to “cover-up” her alleged misuse of confidential funds by preventing her close associates who directly handled the funds from attending the panel’s inquiry.
“Ang nakikita po namin dito, ang pinapupunta po nila ‘yung mga career officials na sa tingin po namin e hindi naman po sila ang talagang concerned. Parang nagkakaroon po ng cover-up dito po sa issue na ito (What we see here is they’re sending career officials who we think aren’t really the ones concerned. There seems to be a cover-up on this issue),” Manila Rep. Joel Chua told a press conference.
“From Day 1, they never showed up and never showed cooperation. At kung amin pong titignan, nagkakaroon po ng cover-up dito at talaga naman ‘yung mga directly involved dito po sa isyong ito, sa confidential fund, ay talagang hindi nila pinapupunta (And you take look at it, there is a cover-up and those directly involved in the confidential fund issue are being prevented from attending),” Chua said.
The Chua panel last Monday cited in contempt and ordered the arrest of four OVP officials, namely assistant chief of staff and Bids and Awards Committee chair Lemuel Ortonio, special disbursing officer (SDO) Gina Acosta, former DepEd assistant secretary Sunshine Charry Fajarda and SDO Edward Fajarda, who transferred to the OVP after Duterte resigned as education secretary last July.
The committee chaired spared Duterte’s chief of staff Zuleika Lopez, who is in the United States, after she explained in a letter that she had to accompany her ailing aunt while in intensive medical care.
Three OVP career officials who attended the hearing – OVP Administrative and Financial Services Director Rosalynne Sanchez, chief accountant Julieta Villadelrey, and Budget Division chief Administrative Officer Kelvin Gerome Teñido – told lawmakers that they have no personal knowledge of how the P500 million in confidential funds were spent by the OVP in 2023.
The Vice President has said three of the four OVP officials who were cited in contempt failed to attend the hearings because they were busy preparing for the OVP’s 89th anniversary on November 15.
Duterte also accused Speaker Martin Romualdez and First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos of being behind the alleged attacks against her and the OVP, stressing that the Speaker is doing it because he badly wants to be next president.
Zambales Rep. Jefferson Khonghun said the Vice President “is shielding her inner circle sa accountability.” “May selective participation, kung sino lang ‘yung gusto nilang ipadala at walang direktang kinalaman ‘dun sa liquidation ng funds ay ‘yun ‘yung pinapadala niya (they only send whoever they want, (and) those who don’t know anything about the liquidation of funds are being sent).”
“Actually, hindi naman po ito ‘yung first time na sila ay maimbitahan (this isn’t the first time they were invited); this is actually the fifth committee hearing. Talaga namang ‘yung mga directly involved dito sa isyung ‘to, sa confidential fund ay talagang hindi nila pinapupunta (They really don’t allow those who are directly involved in this issue on confidential fund to attend),” Khonghun said.
The panel is zeroing in on the Commission on Audit (COA)’s audit findings, especially the P73 million that it disallowed and ordered returned to the government.
The P73 million was part of the P125 million OVP confidential funds which was spent in just 11 days in December 2022.
The COA has also issued Audit Observation Memorandums (AOMs) for the P375 million 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.
Khonghun laughed off Duterte’s claims that the records and receipts with dubious names being reviewed are “fake,” since the documents were all provided by the COA, including one receipt under the name “Mary Grace Piatos.”
Piatos is popular potato chips snack.
“COA ang nagbigay sa committee, kaya hindi pwedeng sabihin ni VP Sara na peke ‘yun, katulad ni Mary Grace Piatos. Sila ang naglagay ng pangalan doon, alam naman natin na hindi totoo ‘yun, gawa-gawa na lang nila ‘yun (COA was the who gave it to the committee, that’s why VP Sara can’t claim it’s fake, just like Mary Grace Piatos. They were the ones who wrote the names there and we all know it’s not true, they just made it up),” he said.
Chua slammed Duterte’s claim that the hearing is “politically motivated.”
“This is not about politics. This is about accountability and transparency,” he said.
Santa Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez, chair of the Committee on Public Order and Safety, also dismissed Duterte’s claims, saying it is a familiar and convenient excuse to avoid public scrutiny.
“The easiest way to evade issues is to call them ‘politically motivated.’ In government, politics is part of the landscape. Accountability and transparency cannot be dismissed by simply invoking politics,” he said.
