AN administration lawmaker has revealed another alleged misuse of confidential funds by Vice President Sara Duterte, this time involving the Department of Education’s (DepEd) use of P112.5 million for “youth summits.”

Citing the Audit Observation Memorandums (AOMs) of the Commission on Audit (COA) on the DepEd’s 2023 budget, Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel said the department spent the amount for questionable youth seminars.

“Pagpapakain lang ng almost 3,000 students, uubusin ba natin ng P112.5 million? Kahit na tatlong buwan silang mag-hotel, hindi maubos ang P112.5 million (Why spend P112.5 million just to feed 3,000 students? Even if they stay in a hotel for three months, P112.5 million will not be used up),” Pimentel said during the resumption of the hearing of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability last Wednesday.

The Vice President, whose use of public funds in the OVP and the DepEd is being investigated after she refused to answer questions hounding her office’s use of confidential funds, skipped the panel’s hearing, telling lawmakers in a letter that the investigation was “unnecessary.”

Pimentel said the funds, supposedly earmarked for Youth Leadership Summits, was flagged by the COA for lack of proper documentation and questionable liquidation reports, which is similar to what happened to the P73 million confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President in 2022.

He said the COA flagged the cash advances and liquidation reports related to the summits and raised concerns about the large sum used, which supposedly lacked supporting documentation such as receipts and photographs.

Pimentel cited COA’s two AOMs dated February 1, 2024 and August 8, 2024, both addressed to DepEd’s special disbursing officer Edward Fajarda, who, according to the lawmaker, was reportedly responsible for P75 million in cash advances and their liquidation.

Fajarda did not attend the hearing, along with other OVP officials, which prompted the panel to issue show-cause orders to at least five of them and require their presence in the next hearing.

“It is very important that the presence of Mr. Fajarda is required in this committee, as he is the one who made and liquidated the cash advance,” said Pimentel.

Former DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa, who was present at the hearing, clarified that the summits were not directly conducted by DepEd but by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as part of the department’s advocacy against insurgency since the Vice President did not want students to be recruited by communist rebels.

“The Youth Leadership Summit is not something that DepEd had conducted, but actually ‘yung mismong nag-certify po from the AFP (the one who actually certified it from the AFP),” Poa told the panel, which prompted Pimentel to say: “Mr. Chair, kahit na confidential fund po iyan (even if that’s confidential), that is still taxpayer’s money. Napakalaking halaga ang P112 million para sa youth leadership summit (P112.5 million was too excessive for a youth leadership summit).”

COA auditor Gloria Camora, who is also a lawyer, confirmed the existence of the AOMs covering different periods in 2023 after Pimentel asked if the youth summits actually took place, pointing out that the liquidation documents submitted to COA only included certifications from military officers.

The certifications stated that several Youth Leadership Summits were conducted, with one certification stating that 531 participants took part in eight activities, while another mentioned 205 youth participants, and yet another cited 860 participants in nine summits.

Pimentel, however, was unconvinced, saying the certifications were insufficient to justify such large expenditures. “In fact, for me, ordinary person ako (I’m just an ordinary person), this does not fall within the utilization of the (COA) Joint Circular,” he said.

Pimentel said Fajarda has to be made to explain how the funds were spent. “So that is why this committee would want to know where the money went, because it is very clear, this is just on paper. Pero ang totoo po niyan, may pinuntahan ho ‘yung P112.5 million (The truth is, the P112.5 million was used for something else),” he said.

LIE DETECTOR

Zambales Rep. Jefferson Khonghun challenged the Vice President to take a lie detector test with former Education Undersecretary Gloria Mercado, who earlier 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.

“Kung talagang sa puso ni VP Duterte e feeling niya nagsasabi siya ng totoo, mag-lie detector test na lang silang dalawa ni Usec Mercado, para magkaalaman kung sinong nagsasabi ng totoo. Hindi na kailangan pang mag-deny at manira sa presscon (If, in her heart, she feels that she’s really telling the truth, she should take a lie detector test with Usec Mercado for us to know who’s telling the truth. There’s no need to deny it at a press conference),” he said.

The 65-year-old Mercado has told the panel 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 (HR), told the panel chaired by Manila Rep. Joel Chua that she received nine envelopes containing a total of P450,000 between February 2023 to September 2023 supposedly from Duterte because of her position as the HoPE head.

Mercado presented to the committee the envelopes which she claimed she kept in her cabinet, saying she donated the money to charity. She also vowed to show lawmakers a receipt to prove the donation she made to a non-government organization (NGO).

“Kung wala namang tinatago si VP Duterte, walang issue sa pag-take ng lie detector test (If VP Duterte is not hiding anything, there’s no issue on taking a lie detector test),” Khonghun said. “Pondo ng bayan ang pinag-uusapan (We’re talking about the people’s money here) and the Vice President owes it to the people to prove her honesty and integrity.”

Khonghun pointed out that Mercado testified under oath before the committee, while the Vice President has refused to take an oath, raising questions about the veracity of her claims.

“Yung testimony ni Usec Mercado, she made under oath. Si VP Duterte refused to take the oath. Kaya hindi mo maalis sa aming mga mambabatas ang magduda sa transparency ni VP Duterte. Kaya mas maganda, mag-lie detector test na lang siya (Usec Mercado’s testimony was made under oath. VP Duterte refused to take the oath. You can’t blame us lawmakers for doubting the transparency of VP Duterte),” he said.

‘QUESTIONABLE MOTIVES’

In a statement yesterday, the Vice President urged lawmakers “who are out to destroy me to stop using witnesses who have no credibility or with questionable motives.”

“Halimbawa nito ay si Gloria Mercado na tinanggal sa pwesto bilang undersecretary ng Department of Education at ngayon ay bahagi na ng political machinery laban sa akin. Nais ng Kongreso na paniwalaan ng mga Pilipino si Mercado at kalimutan na umamin itong masama ang kanyang loob nang mawala sa pwesto (An example of this is Gloria Mercado who was removed from her position as undersecretary of the Department of Education and is now part of the political machinery against me. Congress wants the people to believe Mercado and forget that she admitted being disgruntled after she lost her post),” she said.

The Vice President reiterated her reasons for letting Mercado go, which includes allegedly sending an unauthorized solicitation letter to a company in 2023 to ask for P16 million on behalf of the DepEd to cover transportation, power source, web hosting and other technical requirements for the department’s General User Response Optimization (DepEd-GURO) program as shown by a letter Mercado signed in August 2023.

Mercado, during the hearing, denied that she solicited such a huge amount from a private company, saying the donations were made “in kind.” She also vowed to present documents to the panel.

Duterte said Mercado also appointed a teacher from Central Visayas to be her executive assistant, a non-teaching position in the DepEd’s headquarters, which the Vice President said was irregular.

“Maliban sa hinaharap na kaso ng korapsyon, kilala din si Mercado sa kanyang ugaling paninira sa mga kasamahan sa trabaho, kabilang na ng kapwa matataas na opisyal ng DepEd. Sa akin mismo ay sinubukan ni Mercado na siraan ang tatlong opisyal ng DepEd (Apart from facing a corruption case, Mercado is also known for her penchant to taint the reputation of co-workers, including her fellow high officials of DepEd. She personally tried to destroy the reputations of three DepEd officials to me),” she said.

Camarines Sur Rep. Gabriel Bordado Jr., an assistant minority leader, called on the Vice President to address the questions raised by legislators “rather than resorting to histrionics.”

He made the statement on the House floor after the Vice President again failed to appear at the budget deliberations for her office’s proposed national budget for 2025 on Wednesday.

Bordado drew a stark comparison between the current administration’s handling of funds and the modest, transparent approach taken by former Vice President Leni Robredo.

“I rise today to express my deep concern regarding the current budgetary allocations and spending practices of the Office of the Vice President (OVP), particularly in comparison to the very modest and transparent expenditures during the time of former Vice President Leni Robredo,” Bordado said. “This comparison is crucial as we examine the sharp contrasts in budget requests, the handling of funds, and the outcomes delivered by the office over recent years.”