The House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability is looking at a total of P612.5 million in potential misuse of confidential funds under Vice President Sara Duterte.
Thus, said panel chairman Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua during the resumption of the investigation Tuesday, Nov. 5 on the alleged misuse of the secret funds that had been allocated to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd) during Duterte's tenure as agency secretary.
READ MORE: https://mb.com.ph/2024/11/5/confidential-fund-misuse-linked-to-vp-sara-could-reach-p612-5-m
Thus, said panel chairman Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua during the resumption of the investigation Tuesday, Nov. 5 on the alleged misuse of the secret funds that had been allocated to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd) during Duterte's tenure as agency secretary.
READ MORE: https://mb.com.ph/2024/11/5/confidential-fund-misuse-linked-to-vp-sara-could-reach-p612-5-m
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NewsTranscript
00:00Here, we can see the two slides that show the matrix on how 2022 and 2023 OVP and DepEd
00:14confidential funds were released and cashed and liquidated by the Vice President and SDOs.
00:27Other signatories to the DVs, Checks, LRs, and ARs and their relationship to the VP.
00:58It is inevitable for others to wonder why OVP and DepEd are the only ones involved in talking about confidential funds.
01:07We have to start somewhere.
01:10And because we have started this, we have seen the doubtful justifications for expenses for safe houses worth P16 million for 11 days
01:22and P15 million for the Youth Leadership Program, where the Philippine Army used funds.
01:30Our inquiry does not end with P15 or P16 million or P73 million.
01:38In truth, P612.5 million is the total value of the confidential fund given to OVP and DepEd within two years.
01:52Here, we can see the graph showing the disbursement to OVP and DepEd totaling P612.5 million.
02:06Where is the P612.5 million now? Who spent it and for what purpose?
02:14Because the OVP and DepEd disallowed the P73 million confidential funds, we are wondering why this happened, where it went, and how it was used.
02:29But if we add up all the confidential funds of OVP and DepEd, it is more than half a billion pesos or P612.5 million.
02:43Based on the analysis of the witnesses and the documents collected, it appears that the projects and programs carried out and spent by the confidential funds are not credible, fake, or fake.
03:00In other words, bogus, because there is no explanation as to where it really went.
03:08In the last three hearings, we discovered the following.
03:13First, for the year 2022, together with the P125 million OVP confidential funds spent within 11 days, this P16 million was spent for the construction and maintenance of 34 safe houses.
03:34In this P16 million, there is a safe house that was spent P1 million based on the acknowledgment receipt for only four days.
03:47The OVP and its maintenance amount to P250,000 per day.
03:54Even if you check in at the most expensive hotel in the country, your bill will not reach this amount.
04:04For the year 2023, the OVP spent confidential funds amounting to P125 million for the first three quarters, or a total of P375 million.
04:20The OVP spent for safe houses alone P16 million in the first quarter, P16 million in the second quarter, and P5 million in the third quarter.
04:34Next slide please.
04:38Here we can see, emphasizing the amount spent for safe houses in relation to the months it supposedly covered.
04:50Do they really need these safe houses?
04:56Is their spending here legitimate?
05:00Why did they not spend for safe houses for the whole year 2023?
05:07Second, aside from the anomalous and unreasonable amounts paid for the safe houses,
05:15for the other expenses used by the confidential funds, there is a similar pattern.
05:22The amount is not reasonable and more dangerous.
05:25The expenses amounting to P612.5 million were only supported by the acknowledgment receipts with only basic details which can be easily faked.
05:40Third, we also learned that the certifications from the Infantry Battalions of the Philippine Army were used to show that more than P15 million of confidential funds were received by the Army from the DepEd.
05:58However, it can be faked by the signatories of the certifications.
06:05Our soldiers also did not know that their certifications will be used by the DepEd to support the spending of their confidential funds.
06:17Where did the money really go if it was not spent for the Philippine Army?
06:25In Audit Observation Memorandum No. 2024-015 dated February 1, 2024, 1st AOM,
06:38the COA flagged the report, payment of rewards to the informers in the amount of P7,509,000 in the first quarter of 2023 and P8,031,000 in the second quarter of 2023,
06:57because these expenditures were not supported with required documents.
07:04In sum, this amounted to P15,540,000 of public funds.
07:12There is no evidence where the money was spent and there is no concrete proof that it was given as compensation to the people who gave important and truthful information to protect our young students.
07:32In the last hearing, and from Atty. Powa, Usec Mimpin ordered to ask for evidence to be given to the COA to prove the spending of confidential funds.
07:45Usec Mimpin, former commander of the Task Force Dabao, is the one who forged the certifications and Atty. Powa used it to answer the COA's 1st AOM.
08:00V.P. Duterte stated in his letter dated April 17, 2024,
08:07The P15,540,000 was used for financial rewards given to informers for leads and or integral information received,
08:24which supposedly allowed the DepEd to formulate narrowly targeted programs, information campaigns, and interventions against recruitment
08:36violent extremism, and other criminal activities in specifically identified communities.
08:46It is stated in the letter that among the programs they formulated was the Youth Leadership Summit, or YLS, and Information Education Campaign, or IECS.
08:59However, this was highly doubted by AFP officers who signed the certifications requested by Usec Mimpin.
09:11Fourth, all witnesses in front of the camera said they did not know where the money went.
09:22As stated by Atty. Powa, when it comes to confidential funds, only two persons can answer the question.
09:31The VP herself, and the Special Disbursing Officer, Mr. Edward D. Fajarda.
09:39However, Mr. Fajarda is no longer in DepEd.
09:43He is now in the OVP, and is one of those who refuse to face our hearings.
09:50Perhaps, it would be better if instead of pressing, he just came to our hearings
09:57to face these questions under oath as his people.
10:05May paliwanag o wala, isa lang ang tiyak na sagot.
10:09Malamang hindi napunta ang confidential fund sa mga estudyante, pati sa kanilang sekuridad.
10:17The numbers drawn came from the very documents submitted by the Vice President.
10:23To close, I emphasize that the discoveries made by the committee is just the tip of the iceberg.
10:30Marami pa po tayong kailangan malaman at mahalagang dapat malaman kung saan napunta.
10:37Malinaw na madaling abusuhin ang confidential fund kung masyadong maluwag ang mga panuntunan sa paggamit neto.
10:47COA has been basically reduced to the ministerial task of checking whether the documents required to be submitted
10:54with respect to the confidential expenses are complete.
10:58Without even checking the veracity of the information contained in these documents
11:03compared to the audit of regular funds where transactions need further substantiation.
11:10This must be addressed to prevent not only leakage of government resources,
11:16but to close an avenue for graft and corruption.
11:20The mission of the committee is to craft a bill considering this relevance.
11:26These revelations to regulate and ensure the proper use of confidential funds.