DepEd chief accountant says she got P25,000 a month allowance 'from VP Sara'

The chief accountant of the Department of Education said she received P25,000 a month from then-Education Secretary and Vce President Sara Duterte from February to September 2023.

At a House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability hearing, Rhunna Catalan said she didn't think the money given her was a bribe denying that she was pressured to sign liquidation reports.

“Yes, [I received] a minimal amount po,” Catalan said.

Catalan said she received P25,000 monthly from February to September 2023 through then DepEd Assistant Secretary Sunshine Fajardo.

“I honestly asked Asec Shine if it is part of a confidential fund. She said, Hindi.  This is just an allowance from the Secretary,” Catalan said in describing the first time she received the “allowance.”

"I did not think it was part of a confidential fund. I was made to understand that the money came from the personal money of the [Education] Secretary,” Catalan said.

GMA News Online has reached out to Vice President Duterte for comment on Catalan's statements.

Lawmakers asked Catalan if she did not ask where the said monthly allowance was sourced.

“I did not have the courage to ask," Catalan said.

“During that time, it came from the DepEd Secretary, maybe she was just grateful for our performance,” she added.

“I did not consider it a form of bribery. I was not pressured [to sign liquidation reports]. I was requested to sign it,” Catalan said.

Aside from Catalan, other former DepEd officials who have said they received “allowances” from the then-Education Secretary and Vice President Sara Duterte were then DepEd Director and lawyer Resty Osias (P12,500 to P15,000 per month from April to September 2023) and former Education Undersecretary Gloria Mercado (P50,000 per month from February to September 2023). —NB, GMA Integrated News