House panel asks PSA to verify records of 677 recipients of OVP, DepEd confi funds

The House good government and public accountability panel on Friday asked the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to verify the identity of 677 individuals amid its probe on Vice President Sara Duterte's use of confidential funds.

The 677 individuals supposedly received confidential fund payouts based on acknowledgement receipts.

“Ensuring the authenticity of these recipients is crucial for maintaining transparency and accountability in the use of public funds. We are committed to uncovering the truth behind these transactions,” said House good government and public accountability panel chairperson Joel Chua of Manila.

Among those being requested by the panel are verification of their civil registry documents including birth and marriage records.

The request came after the PSA announced that Mary Grace Piattos, one of the signatories of the acknowledgement receipts used to liquidate the confidential funds under the Vice President, was not on their database.

Prior to the PSA announcement, the ongoing House good government and public accountability panel inquiry on confidential funds of Vice President Duterte has revealed the the OVP and DepEd submitted acknowledgement receipts with wrong dates, unnamed signatories, if not unreadable signatories in liquidating the confidential funds it received in 2022 and 2023, among others, to the Commission on Audit (COA). 

The same inquiry also revealed that the OVP spent P16 million of its P125 million confidential fund in 2022 for safehouses based on OVP’s submission to Commission on Audit, and that the the DepEd under Vice President Duterte submitted certifications from military officials to justify confidential fund use without the consent of the military personnel.

The Vice President has maintained that she did not misuse public funds, and that the inquiry is just being done to prepare for an impeachment bid against her. 

Two impeachment complaints have been filed against Duterte at the House of Representatives since the House panel inquiry started.

--VAL, GMA Integrated News