Solons: VP Sara covering up for subordinates amid House probe of confi funds

Lawmakers from the House of Representatives on Tuesday claimed that Vice President Sara Duterte is behind efforts to cover up for her subordinates who are being sought to answer questions amid the ongoing House panel probe on the budget of her office and the Department of Education (DepEd).

This was disclosed by House good government and public accountability chairperson Joel Chua of Manila, Jeff Khonghun of Zambales and Dan Fernandez of Santa Rosa, Laguna after the Chua-chaired panel cited four Office of the Vice President (OVP) officials in contempt for repeatedly defying subpoenas mandating them to testify before the committee.

“From Day 1, they never showed up and never showed cooperation. At kung amin pong titignan, nagkakaroon po ng cover-up dito at talaga naman ‘yung mga directly involved dito po sa isyong to, sa confidential fund, ay talagang hindi nila pinapupunta,” Chua said in a press conference.

(The way we look at it, there is a cover-up and those directly involved in the confidential fund issue are deliberately not being made to attend.)

Chua was referring to the statement of Rosalynne Sanchez, OVP Director for Administrative and Finance Services, who told the House committee that those who have knowledge on how the confidential funds were used by the OVP and the DepEd under Duterte’s tenure were Special Disbursement Officer Gina Acosta, chief of staff Zuleika Lopez and Duterte herself.

Acosta was one of the four officials cited in contempt alongside Lemuel Ortonio, former Department of Education (DepEd), Assistant Secretary Sunshine Fajarda and her husband, special disbursement officer Edward Fajarda.

“Vice President Sara is actually shielding her inner circle from accountability. That is why you see selective participation of OVP officials, and they sent those who do not have direct knowledge on how the confidential funds were spent,” Khonghun said.

Khonghun was referring to Sanchez and her fellow OVP officials, Chief Administrative Officer Kevin Gerome Tenido, Chief Accountant Julieta Villadelrey and Budget Division officer-in-charge Edelyn Rabago who all showed up during Monday’s probe where they testified that they have no knowledge as to how the P500 million worth of confidential funds released to the OVP were used.

The P500 million was broken down as follows: P125 million released in December 2022, P125 million released in March 2023, P125 million in June 2023 and P125 million in September 2023.

Villadelrey and Sanchez said they just prepare and sign off on disbursement vouchers for the release of the cheques, while Tenido said he only signed off on the request for the confidential funds for the implementation of good governance programs of the OVP.

“The father and daughter have the same kind of personality– shielding their own people. We have seen how the Vice President protects her people by not letting them attend the hearing and former president [Rodrigo Duterte] saying he is alone, the lone responsible for the war on drugs. But there are 219 police officials charged criminally,” Fernandez said.

OVP officials Tenido and Sanchez, however, told the House good government and public accountability panel that the Vice President’s good governance program included payment of safehouses funded by confidential funds, something that was not implemented during the good governance program of Duterte’s predecessor, former vice president Leni Robredo.

In comparison, Robredo did not have a confidential fund allocation during her term from 2016 to 2022.

Sought for comment, Duterte’s office referred to the Vice President’s November 11 statement wherein she said OVP officials skipped the House probe since they are in the thick of preparations for the celebration of the OVP's anniversary.

The ongoing House panel probe earlier revealed the receipts on the use of confidential funds under the younger Duterte’s watch had wrong dates, unnamed signatories, among other inconsistencies.
—RF, GMA Integrated News