THE Office of the Vice President (OVP) spent a whopping P16 million for the rentals of 34 safehouses in just 11 days during the last quarter of 2022 using its P125 million confidential funds, the Commission on Audit (COA) revealed to lawmakers yesterday.
COA presented the OVP report on its P125 million confidential funds in 2022 before the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, which also issued subpoenas to six OVP officials, including Vice President Sara Duterte’s chief-of-staff Zuleika Lopez, for refusing to attend the probe despite having been issued show-cause orders.
The others are lawyers Lemuel Ortonio; assistant COS and Rosalynne Sanchez, OVP director for administrative and financial services; Gina Acosta, OVP special disbursing officer; Julieta Villadelrey, OVP chief accountant: and Edward Fajarda, former Department of Education special disbursing officer who is now with the OVP.
The panel chaired by Manila Rep. Joel Chua is looking into the alleged irregularities in the use of public funds by OVP and the DepEd when the Vice President was still the concurrent education secretary.
Lawyer Gloria Camora of COA’s Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office said the OVP’s P16 million in total payments was liquidated through the submission of 34 acknowledgement receipts between December 21 to 31.
Panel members pointed out that the expenditures using the OVP’s confidential funds were justified using acknowledgment receipts that were either unsigned, illegible and with incomplete names.
They said the receipts also lacked supporting documents, such as lease contracts or other pertinent records.
Lawmakers, in particular, could not believe the huge amount 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.
Antipolo City rep. Romeo Acop, a retired police general who is also a lawyer, cited one of the receipts for a P500,000 payment for a safe house, which Camora said could mean that the rent was around P45,000 per day for 11 days.
“What kind of a safehouse is that, with a rental fee that costs P45,000 per day when other posh areas are even cheaper than this P45,000?” Acop said in disbelief.
The COA was not provided with further details about the rentals of the safehouses because of its confidential nature.
In a position paper, the OVP justified the absence of invited resource persons by saying that the House hearing was unnecessary because no clear piece of legislation will come from it.
“We respectfully take the position that the deliberation or hearing is unnecessary and that the attendance of the officials and personnel of the Office of the Vice President is therefore not needed,” the OVP’s position paper said, pointing out that Duterte already attended the deliberations on the OVP’s proposed 2025 budget last August 27.
The OVP said the issues raised by Manila Rep. Rolando Valeriano in his privilege speech last September 3 on how the OVP has been using its budget can be addressed by COA reports and a separate report submitted to the Committee on Appropriations.
“It becomes completely unnecessary for the Committee to belabor and pursue a legislative inquiry into the budget utilization and accomplishment of the Office because the data has already been provided during the budget deliberations in the Committee on Appropriations, and that further information needed may be verified through the COA,” the OVP said.
The OVP said “the absence of any legislative objective or outcome and the lack of clarity in the rules as to jurisdiction and power of the Committee, does not satisfy the requirements enshrined in Article VI, Section 21 of the Constitution on inquiries in aid of legislation. We therefore respectfully request the Committee to terminate its inquiry on the matter.”
The OVP’s report to the COA also showed that in the third quarter of 2023, it spent P5 million for safehouse rentals covering 79 days, bringing the total rental expenses covering four quarters to P53 million.
Chua questioned the nature of the safehouses rented, asking if the OVP rented luxurious properties with amenities typically found in high-end resorts like Shangri-La Boracay, where a stay costs only around P25,000 per night.
He noted that the monthly rentals in Bonifacio Global City is around P90,000 a month, which is far lower than the average daily rate of P91,000 paid by the OVP.
“Hindi po ba kayo nagtaka kung bakit ganoon kamahal? Wala po kayong information kung gaano kalaki ang building (Did you not wonder why it was that expensive? Don’t you have an information on how big the buildings are?” Chua asked Camora, who said the audit team had no detailed information about the size or location of the rented properties.
Camora said that the transactions related to the rental payments for safehouses complied with the documentary requirements outlined in the COA joint circular on the use of CIFs, including the questioned acknowledgment receipt.
This frustrated Acop who found it unacceptable that the COA only relied on documentary proof of payment since there was no way to verify the authenticity of the information on the acknowledgment receipts.
“So, walang paraan ang COA para malaman kung gawa-gawa lang ang mga acknowledgment receipts na sinubmit? (So, there’s no way for COA to determine if the receipts were fabricated?) Would my statement be correct?” Acop asked Camora, who replied, “Yes, Mr. Chair.”
Camora told Acop that 34 acknowledgment receipts means that 34 safehouses were rented. “Sir, there’s information that one receipt may pertain to one safe house,” she said.
Manila Rep. Ernesto Dionisio Jr. noted the inconsistencies in the OVP’s safehouse rental spending between the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first three quarters of 2023, prompting Camora to admit that there is a “steep” difference, especially since the spending in 2022 was too high.
On the first three quarters of 2023 Camora confirmed that the OVP spent P16 million each in the first and second quarters, covering 53 days and 67 days, respectively.
“Mathematics lang e (It’s just mathematics), 11 days versus 53 days,” Dionisio said, questioning why the same amount of P16 million was spent on completely different durations.
For the third quarter of 2023, Camora confirmed the OVP spent P5 million for 79 days.
“Hindi po ba na parang nakakapagtaka na P5 million napagkasya sa 79 days tapos medyo extreme kumpara sa Quarter 4 ng 2022 na P16 million for 11 days? (Isn’t it suspicious that the P5 million lasted for 79 days and it was a little bit extreme compared to the Quarter 4 of 2022 when P16 million was used for 11 days?),” Dionisio asked, to which Camora, said: “Pwede pong ganoon, sir, na extremely malaki ‘yung gastos nung 2022 (It could be like that, sir, that the 2022 spending was extremrely higher).”
‘A VERY CORRUPT PERSON’
At one point in the hearing, Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel accused former DepEd Usec. Epimaco Densing III of being a “very corrupt person” for allegedly soliciting commissions from members of the House of Representatives in exchange for approving school building projects in their districts when Duterte was still heading the DepEd.
Pimentel said Densing allegedly asked lawmakers for kickbacks as high as 18 percent of the contract price of school building projects in their respective districts.
Pimentel recounted a phone conversation he had with Densing’s associate Greg Morillo, who allegedly acted as a go-between when he called him up asking if the lawmaker could meet Densing about the P170 million budget for a school building project in his district.
“You already know that,” the congressman quoted Morillo as telling him when he asked why he needed to meet with Densing. “Right there and then, I already knew na si Mr. Densing manghihingi ng commission (that Mr. Densing will ask for a commission).”
“Dapat huwag ka nang bumalik sa gobyerno (You should not return to the government. The government does not need your kind. You are a very corrupt person making your position to your advantage,” he added.
Pimentel, despite the allocation of P170 million for school buildings in his district, said the bidding process for these projects was abruptly halted after he refused to comply with Densing’s alleged request for a commission.
“Lo and behold, the funds did not come through, kinancel ‘yung bidding (the bidding was cancelled),” Pimentel said.
Pimentel also claimed that Densing approached other lawmakers, offering school building allocations in exchange for a percentage of the project’s budget, including one congressman from the Visayas who was asked for an 18 percent commission.
He said Densing even met with several congressmen in Manila, accompanied by a contractor named Architect Ralph Tecson, because he was allegedly not only demanding commissions but was also directing contractors to lawmakers.
Densing denied all the allegations: “Well, first of all, it’s a blatant lie asking for commission. It is the very reason I’m process-oriented.”
This prompted Pimentel to say: “You are lying Mr. Densing. And I can cite you for contempt.” “What I will do is gather more evidence to prove that what I am saying is true, that Mr. Epimaco Densing is a very corrupt person.”
