Vice President Sara Duterte (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) under Vice President Sara Duterte allegedly spent a whopping P16 million in confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) to rent 34 safehouses for just 11 days in the last quarter of 2022. 

This was learned Thursday, Oct. 18 during the continuation of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability's investigation, in aid of legislation, on the alleged irregularities in the use of public funds by the OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd), which the Vice President handled from June 30, 2022 to July 19, 2024. 

Manila 3rd district Cong. Joel Chua chairs the anti-corruption panel, which is the House's equivalent to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. 

At least of the 34 safehouses rented by the OVP charged P91,000 per day, the Chua panel learned. 

Records tackled by the panel showed that the OVP spent P16 million on rental payments for 34 safehouses, with amounts ranging from P250,000 to P1 million paid to each owner between December 21 and 31, 2022. 

These rental payments were detailed in the liquidation report submitted by the OVP to the Commission on Audit (COA) to justify the spending of a total of P125 million in CIFs over just 11 days during the same time period. 

No one from the OVP was present during the hearing, prompting House members to address their questions to lawyer Gloria Camora, the team leader of the COA unit that audited the OVP’s CIFs in 2023. 

Considered secret funds, CIFs are so-called because they aren't subjected to the normal auditing process. 

Among the solons who were shocked to learn about the figures was Chua, who questioned why seemingly posh and luxurious properties were rented as "safehouses", judging from the costs. 

Chua also compared the rental prices to those at the high-end Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig City. He noted that monthly rentals in the area were typically around P90,000, far lower than the daily rate of P91,000 paid by the OVP. 

“Hindi po ba kayo nagtaka kung bakit ganoon kamahal? Wala po kayong information kung gaano kalaki ang building (safehouse)?” Chua asked. 

(Weren't you surprised with the rate? Didn't you have any information about the size of the building?) 

According to Camora, that the audit team had no detailed information as to the size or location of the rented properties. 

Chua would later say in a chance interview after Thursday's hearing that he would have prefered Vice President Duterte's presence in the inquiry. 

"Sana nga lang mag-take siya ng oath, at tsaka sana sagutin din niya yung mga katanungan (But I hope she takes an oath and actually answers the questions)," said the congressman from Manila. 

The COA had earlier issued a notice of disallowance--basically, an order to return the money--to P73.28 million out of the P125-million CIFs used by the OVP in December 2022.

No way to authenticate?

The rental expenditures were justified using acknowledgment receipts that were unsigned, illegible, missing names, or only included the signatures of recipients, the Chua panel learned. These receipts also lacked supporting documents such as lease contracts or other pertinent records. 

During the interpellation of Antipolo City 2nd district Rep. Romeo Acop, Camora said the transactions on the rental payments for safehouses complied with the documentary requirements outlined in the COA joint circular on the use of CIFs, including the rather problematic acknowledgment receipts. 

Acop, a retired police brigadier general. expressed frustration over Camora’s remarks that COA relied solely on documentary proof of payment, with no way to verify the authenticity of the information on the acknowledgment receipts. 

“So, walang paraan ang COA para malaman kung gawa-gawa lang ang mga acknowledgment receipts na sinubmit? (So there's no way for COA to find out if the submitted receipts were just fabricated?) 

"Would my statement be correct?” Acop asked, to which Camora replied, “Yes, Mr. Chair.”

MUST READ:

https://mb.com.ph/2024/9/18/not-like-p-noy-fvr-vp-sara-breaks-rules-by-refusing-to-take-oath-in-house-probe

6 lieutenants of VP Sara issued subpoenas 

Earlier in the hearing, the panel approved the issuance of subpoenas to six of the Vice President Duterte's top lieutenants at the OVP for failure to attend the proceedings. 

Slapped with subpoenas ad testificandum were Atty. Zuleika Lopez, VP Duterte’s chief-of-staff (COS); Atty. Lemuel Ortonio, assistant OVP COS; Atty. Rosalynne Sanchez, OVP Director for Administrative and Financial Services; Gina Acosta, OVP Special Disbursing Officer; Juleita Villadelrey, OVP Chief Accountant: and Edward D. Fajarda, former DepEd Special Disbursing Officers and now with the OVP. 

Bukidnon 2nd district Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores was the one who moved for the issuance of such; he noted that these resource persons had already been given show cause orders by the Chua panel. 

This means that they were previously invited, but no-showed the past hearing. If they continue defy the committee, then arrest orders may be forthcoming. 

After carrying Flores' motion, Chua said, "May I also request that a lookout bulletin order be issued as well in coordination with the Bureau of Immigration (BI) and DOJ (Department of Justice)." 

Asked later on why Vice President Duterte wasn't included in the lookout bulletin despite her absence from the hearings, Chua said it was all due to the panel's respect for the position that she holds. 

Thursday was the panel's third hearing on the OVP and DepEd fund usage. Vice President Duterte only attended the first hearing; however, she refused to take her oath.