Saksi is GMA Network's late-night newscast hosted by Arnold Clavio and Pia Arcangel. It airs Mondays to Fridays at 10:20 PM (PHL Time) on GMA-7. For more videos from Saksi, visit http://www.gmanews.tv/saksi.
#GMAIntegratedNews #KapusoStream
Breaking news and stories from the Philippines and abroad:
GMA Integrated News Portal: http://www.gmanews.tv
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gmanews
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gmanews
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/gmanews
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/gmanews
GMA Network Kapuso programs on GMA Pinoy TV: https://gmapinoytv.com/subscribe
#GMAIntegratedNews #KapusoStream
Breaking news and stories from the Philippines and abroad:
GMA Integrated News Portal: http://www.gmanews.tv
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gmanews
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@gmanews
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/gmanews
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/gmanews
GMA Network Kapuso programs on GMA Pinoy TV: https://gmapinoytv.com/subscribe
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Let's be together in TAGIG!
00:15Two officials of the Office of the Vice President are being contempted
00:18by the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability
00:22which is advocating the use of confidential funds by the OVP.
00:25One will be detained in the Camera and the other in Bicutan in TAGIG.
00:29Again, the questionable acknowledgment receipts are being used.
00:33Witness, Marisol Abdurrahman.
00:39In the continuation of the hearing of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability,
00:43it turns out that not only Mayor Riz Priatos,
00:46the questionable signature on the acknowledgment receipts of the OVP,
00:51but also of the Vice President, is the same.
00:53The signature of Coco and Benjamin is the same as the signature of the Department of Education,
00:58but the signature of the two ARs is different.
01:01On the left side, with black ink, that's from the OVP.
01:06On the other side, it's from DepEd.
01:09Can you please read the name on DepEd?
01:12It's the same, Mr. Chair.
01:14It's the same, right?
01:15Yes, Mr. Chair.
01:16It's very obvious, Mr. Chair, that not only Mayor Riz Priatos,
01:20but also the questionable acknowledgment receipts are the same.
01:28The names are the same.
01:30The date is different.
01:32Their signatures are different, Mr. Chair.
01:37The judges also examined how the former DepEd Special Disbursing Officer,
01:44in many places in the country,
01:46within one day of February 21, 2023.
01:50According to Congressman Royce Gutierrez,
01:52on February 21, 2023,
01:54one day after Poharda cashed in P37.5 million,
01:59the acknowledgment receipts showed that Poharda was able to disburse
02:03to seven different places in the country.
02:05From Malolos, Davao, San Francisco, Agusan, Del Sur, Makati City,
02:10Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, and Davao City.
02:13In passing, he cashed in, and immediately the next day,
02:16he traveled to these seven places and had these seven ARs.
02:20Did this not raise a red flag of the impossibility of this occurring?
02:25Well, it does, sir.
02:26And according to Congressman Royce Gutierrez,
02:29on March 15, Poharda's disbursements reached 26
02:33to different places in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
02:37Attorney Camora, let's give him a helicopter.
02:39I don't think he'll do that in one day.
02:43So it really raises a question.
02:44How did SDO Poharda certify and say that he personally disbursed this?
02:48Camora wants to verify to the Philippine Statistic Authority
02:52if there are real people who signed the ARs.
02:56It will also be referred to the NBI and PNP to verify the signatures.
03:00Poharda is one of the OVP officials who did not hide
03:04in the hearing today despite the committee's sight and contempt.
03:08Former Deputy Assistant Secretary Sunshine Chary Poharda,
03:12OVP Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta,
03:15and Assistant Chief of Staff and Visa and Awards Committee Chair Lemuel Ortonio
03:20were also seen in contempt of the committee
03:23and were ordered to be jailed in Vicutan for 10 days.
03:27Ortonio wrote that he was going to the hearing
03:29and asked to remove the contempt order against him,
03:33but he did not come.
03:34Vice President Sara Duterte did not come to the hearing today
03:38and said that she was just wasting her time
03:41because she was not asked when she last came here.
03:44The Vice President said that there was no misuse of her confidential fund.
03:50This is also what the Vice President said in her letter to the committee.
03:53But the committee said that they did not ask the Vice President when she came here
03:57because she was not under oath.
03:59They also invited the Vice President several times.
04:02The one who came to the hearing earlier,
04:04the Chief of Staff of VP Sara,
04:06was Artenio Zolaica Lopez.
04:08I am purely handling, as I mentioned, operational concerns.
04:12Although I would wish to answer really respectfully
04:16as regards the matter of the confidential expenses,
04:18it is something that I have not really been privy to from the very beginning.
04:24It came out in the hearing that Lopez wrote the Commission and Audit
04:29to tell her not to follow the orders of the camera
04:32that the Audit Report is issuing regarding the confidential funds of the OVP.
04:37She said that Vice President Sara Duterte knew about this.
04:41That letter does not in any way seek to undermine the power of Congress.
04:47It is simply a request to the Commission of Audit
04:51given that there is still an ongoing audit investigation.
04:57That's why we requested that since the audit is not yet completed,
05:03it is not right to give those documents first.
05:09But Attorney Lopez, that is not a call for you to make, right?
05:15Your Honor, it was...
05:16Precisely because you are the agency that is being investigated.
05:20You're asking another agency not to cooperate with Congress
05:25when an ongoing investigation is happening.
05:30Lopez was cited in contempt because of this.
05:33I truly apologize if there was something in that letter that slighted you on a personal note.
05:40It was not my intention, Your Honor.
05:42And I would like to request to the members of the Honorable Committee
05:46to lift that contempt order or to reconsider
05:52and grant my request, Your Honor, not to cite me in contempt.
05:56We will have the next meeting on November 25, Mr. Chair.
06:00So I move until November 25.
06:04Which is on Monday?
06:06Yeah.
06:07May we request the Sergeant-at-Arms to arrange a room
06:15here in the vicinity of the House of Representatives.
06:20At the press conference earlier, DT Saran came to speak,
06:23cognizant of the acknowledgment receipts that were questioned in the Chamber.
06:27According to the Vice President, he has not yet seen the said receipts.
06:30The litigation documents did not reach him.
06:33The Vice President will also not make an additional response to the committee.
06:37It is up to the congressmen to do what they want.
06:40He also did not stop the employees of the OVP from participating in the hearings.
06:45It's sufficient that they did not accept the receipts.
06:47I did not say anything. I did not ask for the receipts.
06:52They just have to accept it.
06:55They just have to accept the receipts.
06:58It's enough.
07:00We will have the next hearing on November 25.
07:06Well, it remains to be seen, sir.
07:09In the current case, on a case-to-case basis,
07:12it depends on the true invitation.
07:15For the GMA Integrated News,
07:18Marisol Abduraman is your witness.
07:23Along with the unforgettable experiences of Mary Jane Veloso,
07:26the long fight to get her out of the death row in Indonesia.
07:30And now that she is going back to the Philippines,
07:32her family's wish is for Mary Jane's release.
07:37Witness, Yvonne Myrina.
07:40Mary Jane Veloso's long-awaited job abroad on April 2010.
07:44But it was beyond her knowledge.
07:46She was forced to go to her luggage of an Indonesian recruiter.
07:49There was more than 2 kilos of heroin in it.
07:52She discovered it when she arrived at Yogyakarta Airport.
07:56Six months after that,
07:58she was found guilty in a drug trafficking case and sentenced to death.
08:02We are afraid.
08:06We are afraid.
08:08When I was in prison,
08:10because of the recruiter, we were afraid.
08:13They said that they are an international syndicate.
08:16If we are alone,
08:18our children will be killed in Indonesia.
08:21After more than a decade in the death row,
08:24Mary Jane will be able to return to the Philippines.
08:27This is the happiest thing in our lives,
08:30the whole family, especially her children.
08:33There must be a reason for the President to be this confident.
08:38If you mean a written agreement,
08:41there is still no answer.
08:43But they were the first to come to us to talk about this.
08:47So we are extremely confident it will happen.
08:51And certainly, our President must be pretty of information
08:56which will explain his confidence.
08:58President Bongbong Marcos said that
09:00his return to Veloso was a result of more than a decade of consultation with the Indonesian government.
09:06He also thanked the new President of Indonesia,
09:09Prabowo Subianto.
09:11It took 14 years and 3 administrations to reach an agreement
09:15to save Veloso's life.
09:17The Philippines has repeatedly filed a case against him.
09:20On April 2015,
09:22Veloso was counted among the 10 convicts
09:24who were found dead in Indonesia.
09:27But President Noy Noy Aquino
09:30did not finish writing to Indonesian President Joko Widodo
09:32to ask for a clemency for Mary Jane.
09:35Aquino also spoke directly on the phone.
09:38Indonesian Foreign Minister Noy
09:40proposed to consider Veloso as a witness
09:42against those who recruited him.
09:44The Indonesian government has stated
09:47the implementation of the death sentence
09:50on our countrywoman, Mary Jane Veloso.
09:55Peace, peace.
09:58Long live the people of the Philippines.
10:02Long live Mary Jane Veloso.
10:06It is also the consequence of the police's action
10:09on the recruiter of Veloso, Christina Serio,
10:11who is facing qualified traffic in persons,
10:14illegal recruitment, and estafa.
10:16Under the administration of Duterte,
10:19the position of the Philippines
10:21should be done according to Indonesian law.
10:25He said, follow your own laws.
10:27I will not interfere.
10:29Indonesia allowed Veloso to give a testimony
10:32against Serio and his other recruiter,
10:35Julius Lacanilau.
10:38Until this September 2022,
10:40during the presidency of President Marcos,
10:42Veloso's family gathered
10:45to ask Widodo for executive clemency.
10:48But Widodo's term ended
10:50when Mary Jane's case could not be resolved.
10:52When Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto
10:54came to power,
10:56the atmosphere changed.
10:59According to Indonesian Chief Minister for Law and Human Rights,
11:01Yusril Izyamahendra,
11:03returning Veloso
11:05is under the new Indonesian police,
11:07the Transfer of Prisoners.
11:09The Philippines accepted their conditions
11:12for this,
11:13despite their court's decision.
11:15That's why Mary Jane went back to the Philippines,
11:18not in her residence in Nueva Ecija,
11:20but in Piitan,
11:22which is still under the government.
11:24The Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong
11:26is one of the places where Mary Jane can go.
11:29Mary Jane was saved from prison
11:32because Indonesia accepted
11:34that there is no death penalty in the Philippines.
11:36When she came here,
11:38she will be serving the sentence
11:39that was meted in Indonesia.
11:41So she will continue her sentence.
11:44And I think it's worth emphasizing also
11:46that the most important aspect of this all
11:49is the difference in our laws.
11:52There, they allowed the death penalty.
11:54Here, we all know that it's abolished.
11:57So we don't have a death sentence here.
11:59Yusril Izyamahendra,
12:00under the authority of President Marcos,
12:02was pardoned by Veloso.
12:04This is what his lawyers want to happen.
12:06The previous sentence is absolute felony,
12:09which even the Coordinating Minister of Indonesia
12:13expressly stated that
12:15it's now going to be the responsibility
12:17of the Philippine authorities,
12:19whether or not to grant credency.
12:22I hope that Mary Jane will be able to go home.
12:25I hope that she won't be jailed.
12:28I ask the government
12:30that if Mary Jane can go home,
12:32I hope that she will be able to go home.
12:34For GMA Integrated News,
12:36Ivan Merina is your witness.
12:39Before the witness,
12:40a 18-year-old man was killed
12:42after being shot inside a tricycle in Iloilo City.
12:46Kim Salinas of GMA Regional TV is your witness.
12:53When the tricycle stopped in Iloilo City,
12:56a 16-year-old man was running
12:59who was shot by Alias Makoy,
13:01who is one of the drivers.
13:02But his companion in the 18-year-old tricycle
13:05was shot by motorcyclists.
13:08The suspects quickly left.
13:11In the hot pursuit operation,
13:13the so-called principal suspect in the crime was arrested.
13:17According to the police,
13:18in the vicinity of Alias Makoy,
13:20the suspect sent the victim to a boarding house
13:23for the crime to be committed.
13:25It only shows that Alias Makoy is knowledgeable
13:29that there was an incident.
13:32Despite the chaos,
13:34the illegal drug was ordered by Makoy
13:38because he has a debt
13:41that he hasn't paid yet.
13:44The transaction is in terms of drugs.
13:47I asked him to pay.
13:50The victim's family refused to be interviewed.
13:53The complaint against the principal suspect
13:56against Alias Makoy and two other individuals
13:58is also being prepared.
14:01For GMA Integrated News,
14:03I'm Kim Salinas of GMA Regional TV.
14:07Be the first to watch!