Unang Balita is the news segment of GMA Network's daily morning program, Unang Hirit. It's anchored by Arnold Clavio, Susan Enriquez, Ivan Mayrina, and Mariz Umali, and airs on GMA-7 Mondays to Fridays at 5:30 AM (PHL Time). For more videos from Unang Balita, visit http://www.gmanetwork.com/unangbalita.
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NewsTranscript
00:00He was shown on camera how he was able to disburse money to a former official of the Department of Education in different places in just one day.
00:10In the investigation of the Office of the Vice President, aside from the signature of a Mary Grace Piatos in some documents,
00:17the signature of a Kokoy Villamin was also examined.
00:21Marisol Abdurrahman has the first news.
00:23In the continuation of the hearing of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability,
00:32it turns out that Mary Grace Piatos is not the only one whose name is questionable in the acknowledgment receipts of the Office of the Vice President.
00:40A receipt was signed by a Kokoy Villamin.
00:43She is also the one who signed a receipt of the Department of Education, but the signature is different in two ARs.
00:53On the other side is from DepEd.
01:24The judges also examined how the former DepEd Special Disbursing Officer, Edward Fajarda,
01:33was able to disburse money to many places in the country in just one day on February 21, 2023.
01:38According to Congressman Royce Gutierrez, on February 21, 2023,
01:43one day after Fajarda was able to encash P37.5 million,
01:48the acknowledgment receipts showed that Fajarda was able to disburse to seven different places in the country.
01:54From Malolos, Davao, San Francisco, Agusan del Sur, Makati City, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, and Davao City.
02:01In Pasig po na encash, and immediately the next day, he traveled to these seven places and have these seven ARs.
02:08Did this not raise a red flag of the impossibility of this occurring?
02:13Well, it does, sir.
02:15According to Congressman Royce Gutierrez, on March 15, Fajarda's disbursements reached 26
02:22to different places in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
02:25Attorney Camora, let's give him a helicopter. I don't think he'll do that in one day.
02:31So it really raises a question.
02:33How did SDO certify and say that he personally disbursed this?
02:37The camera wants to verify with the Philippine Statistics Authority
02:41if there are real people who signed the ARs.
02:44It will also be referred to the NBI and PNP to verify the signatures.
02:48Fajarda is one of the OVP officials who did not hide in the hearing despite the committee's site-in contempt.
02:55Former Deputy Assistant Secretary Sunshine Chary Fajarda,
03:00OVP Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta,
03:03and Assistant Chief of Staff and Business Awards Committee Chair Lemuel Ortono.
03:07Ortono was again contempted by the committee
03:10and was ordered to be jailed in Bicutan for 10 days.
03:13Ortono wrote that he will attend the hearing
03:16and asked to remove the contempt order against him, but he did not come.
03:21Vice President Sara Duterte did not come to the hearing.
03:25She said before that she was just wasting her time
03:28because she was not asked when she last came here.
03:31She said before that there was no misuse of her confidential fund.
03:36This is also what Vice President Duterte said in her letter to the committee.
03:39But the committee said that they did not ask Vice President Duterte when she last came here
03:43because she was not under oath.
03:45They also invited Vice President Duterte several times.
03:48Vice President Duterte came to the hearing of the Chief of Staff of VP Sara, Artiene Zulaica Lopez.
03:53I am purely handling, as I mentioned, operational concerns.
03:58Although I would wish to answer really respectfully as regards the matter of the confidential expenses,
04:04it is something that I have not really been privy to from the very beginning.
04:10Lopez wrote the Commission on Audit when she came to the hearing
04:14to tell the Chief of Staff not to follow the audit reports of the confidential funds of the OVP.
04:22She said that Vice President Sara Duterte knows about this.
04:26That letter does not in any way seek to undermine the power of Congress.
04:32It is simply a request to the Commission of Audit, given that there is still an ongoing audit investigation.
04:41That's why we requested that since the audit is not yet completed,
04:47it is not right to give such documents first.
04:53But Attorney Lopez, that is not a call for you to make, right?
05:00Precisely because you are the agency that is being investigated.
05:04You're asking another agency not to cooperate with Congress when an ongoing investigation is happening.
05:14Lopez was cited in contempt because of this.
05:17I truly apologize if there was something in that letter that slighted you on a personal note.
05:24It was not my intention, Your Honor.
05:26And I would like to request to the members of the Honorable Committee to lift that contempt order
05:34or to reconsider and grant my request, Your Honor, not to cite me in contempt.
05:39We will have the next meeting on November 25, Mr. Chair.
05:44So I move now until November 25.
05:48Which is on Monday.
05:49Yeah.
05:50May we request the Sergeant-at-Arms to arrange a room here in the vicinity of the House of Representatives.
06:21The Congressmen are now in charge of what they will do.
06:23She also said that she is not stopping the employees of the OVP from going to the hearings.
06:28They said it was insufficient and they did not accept it.
06:30So they did not go to the hearings.
06:31They did not even try to make an affidavit.
06:35So they will just be punished for their antibiotics.
06:38Or they will just be punished for their antibiotics.
06:41For going to the hearings.
06:43The OVP did not go to the hearings.
06:46Will you be attending the next hearing?
06:49Well, it remains to be seen, sir.
06:52As of now, on a case-to-case basis, it depends on the invitation.
06:59This is the first news.
07:01Marisol Labduraman for GMA Integrated News.
07:18.