Lawmakers note P237M disallowed confidential funds

THE P73 million disallowed by the Commission on Audit (COA) out of the P125 million confidential funds spent by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) in 2022 is just the beginning of a “broader pattern of seeming misuse or mismanagement of government funds,” Zambales Rep. Jefferson Konghun said yesterday as he noted an additional P164 million flagged by auditors under the 2023 secret funds of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Konghun said the P164 million, which is part of the OVP’s P500 million confidential funds in 2023, was included in COA’s Audit Observation Memorandums (AOMs).

The lawmaker noted that in total, the COA has so far questioned the use of P237 million in confidential funds under Duterte, who is being criticized by administration lawmakers for refusing to answer their questions during the budget hearings and the subsequent hearing called by the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability on how the OVP has been spending its annual allocations.

“We are seeing a disturbing pattern of misuse or mismanagement of government funds. Vice President Duterte needs to explain this to the public – she owes the Filipino people transparency and accountability,” Konghun said.

The appropriations panel last week reduced the OVP’s proposed P2.037 billion budget for 2025 by a whopping 63.8 percent, approving only P733.198 million and realigning P1.29 billion to programs under the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Health to help indigents.

On Wednesday night, Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Angela Suansing presented the summary of the COA findings during the hearing of the House Committee on Good Government, where the Vice President declined to participate by refusing to take her oath as a resource person and declining to answer lawmakers’ questions and leaving shortly after delivering a statement assailing the investigation.

COA FINDINGS

The report showed the OVP was allocated a total of P125 million in confidential funds for the last quarter of 2022 and P500 million for 2023. So far, COA has audited P500 million – P125 million for 2022 and P375 million for 2023, since the OVP did not use the remaining P125 million after the House, in October last year, removed the secret fund allocation of the OVP under the then-proposed 2024 budget.

For 2023, the COA issued an AOM detailing its adverse findings on the use of P125 million in confidential funds each quarter up to the third quarter.

Suansing’s report showed that state auditors flagged expenses totaling to P67 million, or 53.6 percent of the allocated amount for the first quarter, P62 million (49.6 percent) for the second quarter, and P35 million (28 percent) for the third quarter.

For its audit of the 2022 confidential funds, the COA has reported that the P125 million was disbursed in 11 days, or an average of P11.364 million a day, between December 21 up to the end of the year in 2022. It found numerous irregularities in the use of the money and has disallowed expenses amounting to more than P73 million, or almost half of the CIF.

More than P59 million of the disallowed amount were for the purchase of “various goods” amounting to P34.857 million and “medicines” costing P24.930 million, which were declared by the OVP as “payment for rewards” for informants.

An additional P3.5 million described as “payment for chairs, tables, desktop computers, and printers” was also not allowed in audit.

Quoting COA’s summary of findings, Suansing said that for the “purchase of information,” the OVP disbursed P14 million between December 21 to 31, 2022; P10 million from February 6 to March 29, 2023; P12 million from April 25 to June 30, 2023; and P20 million from July 14 to Sept. 30, 2023.

The COA findings said P72 million was spent on “payment of reward” during these periods, with the OVP claiming to be conducting “surveillance and monitoring” activities.

The OVP also spent P152 million on “purchase of supplies,” P53 million on the “rental and maintenance of safe houses,” and P122 million for “provision of medical and food aid.”

COA has said Duterte and two other OVP officials who are “liable” for the questionable expenses have the option of appealing the disallowance decision with the COA proper or return the money to the government. They have 180 days or six months to make an appeal, while the COA proper has two months to make a final decision.

PUBLIC MONEY

“This is public money – hard-earned taxes of Filipinos. We need to know how it was spent, especially with COA raising red flags. The Vice President must address these concerns head-on,” Konghun said. “There is a clear need for transparency. The COA’s findings suggest serious issues in how the OVP is handling its CIF. The Vice President cannot ignore this. She (Duterte) needs to explain.”

Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez (PL, 1-Rider), agreed with Konghun’s observation that there is an emerging pattern of fund misuse.

“There seems to be a pattern. Based on the COA report, the same offenses that led to the notice of disallowance are present in the AOMs,” he said, adding: “We need to seriously consider if there is a pattern of misuse, misfeasance, or even malfeasance in this case.”

For his part, Manila Rep. Joel Chua, good government panel chair, said Duterte’s refusal to take an oath during the inquiry, will not set a precedent for future House inquiries.

Chua reiterated the rules of the House of Representatives require all witnesses and resource persons to testify under oath to ensure transparency and truthfulness in their testimonies.

“Hindi po ibig sabihin na ito pong insidente dahil hinayaan po natin ay magiging precedent na sa mga susunod na mga committee hearings. Hindi po mangyayari yan (That does not mean that this incident, because we let it pass, will set a precedent for future committee hearings. That will not happen),” he said.

Chua warned resource persons that refusal to take an oath could be grounds for contempt under normal circumstances.

“In fact, ito po ay isang ground para ang mga witnesses ay ma-cite for contempt. Pero dahil sa paggalang sa opisina ng ating bise-presidente, ito ay i-ooverlook po natin at palalagpasin po natin (this is a ground for a witness to be cited in contempt. But because of our respect to the office our Vice President, we overlooked it and just let it pass),” he said.