Vice President Sara Duterte (Noel Pabalate/ MANILA BULLETIN)

Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua sees two possible grounds for impeachment against embattled Vice President Sara Duterte amid the ongoing House inquiry into the alleged mismanagement of funds under the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd).

Chua chairs the Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, the panel conduction the investigation. It is often referred to as the "Senate Blue Ribbon Committee" of the House of Representatives. 

He said that while the panel probe was initially launched “in aid of legislation", it has since uncovered potential grounds for Duterte’s impeachment, particularly graft and corruption and betrayal of public trust. 

Chua added that initial findings—such as the P125 million in confidential funds that the Duterte-led OVP spent within just 11 days in December 2022—were significant enough to raise concerns. 

“Na-shock po ang lahat sa P125 million na nagastos in 11 days. At may lumabas nga po na findings ang COA (Commission on Audit) na nag-issue ng Notice of Disallowance (ND),” he said. 

(Everybody was shocked with the P125 million that was spent in 11 days. And the COA issued an ND because of its findings.) 

Last August, the COA issued an ND for P73.28 million of the P125 million, covering the OVP’s confidential funds for the last quarter of 2022, citing improper use and regulatory violations. The COA directed Duterte and other accountable OVP officials to settle the disallowed amount. 

Duterte’s office was also allocated P500 million in confidential funds for 2023 but received only P375 million, or P125 million per quarter. Each quarter’s funds are under Audit Observation Memorandums related to financial and operational deficiencies, which could lead to further NDs if not sufficiently justified. 

Amid public criticism of the rapid spending of the P125 million during the last quarter of 2022, the House of Representatives rejected her request for an additional P500 million in confidential funds for 2024. 

Chua said the lady official could face impeachment for graft and corruption over the alleged unaccounted P15 million in confidential funds within the DepEd during Duterte’s tenure as secretary that was allegedly spent in connection with youth leadership summits (YSLs) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the OVP’s alleged overpriced rental payments for safe houses. 

“Pare-parehas po tayong nagtatanong kung saan napunta ‘yung P15 million. May certification, sine-certify pero inamin naman ng Army na hindi sa kanila napunta, walang dinownload. Ngayon ang tanong—saan napunta? ‘Yung P16 million na rental for safe houses [noong last quarter of 202], walang detalye. Hindi po natin alam kung totoo nga pong nagamit sa rentals,” Chua pointed out. 

(We're all wondering where the P15 million went. There's a certification but the Army said the money didn't go to them, nothing was downloaded. So the question is, where did it go? There were no details for the P16 million in rental cost for safehouses during the last quarter of 2022. We don't know for sure if it was spent rentals.) 

The committee earlier learned that DepEd, under Duterte’s leadership, falsely claimed to have used its confidential funds for YSLs; when, in reality, the AFP and local government units (LGUs) covered most of the expenses. 

Four military officers testified that DepEd’s confidential funds were not involved in funding the YSLs they conducted in 2023. Nevertheless, DepEd used the certifications issued by these officers to justify P15 million in confidential funds supposedly allocated for informant payments. 

The Chua panel also recently learned about the OVP’s alleged use of P16 million in confidential funds to rent 34 safe houses for just 11 days in late 2022, with one property costing nearly P91,000 per day. 

Records show the OVP made payments ranging from P250,000 to P1 million per property owner between December 21 and 31, 2022. These rentals, detailed in the OVP’s liquidation report to the COA, were part of a rapid P125 million confidential funds expenditure over the 11-day period. 

However, Chua said the spending has  acknowledgment receipts that were unsigned, illegible, missing names, or only included signatures, and lacked supporting documents like lease contracts, thus raising questions about the transactions. 

Chua further suggested that Duterte’s actions could constitute a betrayal of public trust, particularly given the entrusted funds. 

“Ito pong ginagawa niya hindi pa ba betrayal of public trust? Pinagkatiwalaan ka ng pondo tapos di ka sumusunod, ‘di ba? Hindi mo ginamit ‘yung pondo para sa ayos,” he remarked. 

(Isn't this betrayal of public trust already? You were entrusted with funds, but you didn't follow the rules, right? You didn't use it properly.) 

VP Sara can still address allegations 

The chairman said the Vice President may still opt to appear before the panel and explain the utilization of these funds and dispel the potential grounds for impeachment.  

At any rate, Chua clarified that the committee’s goal was not to pursue anybody's impeachment but to address potential legislative reforms. 

“Ang purpose naman po rito ay in aid of legislation...Eh ako naman po ginagawa ko lamang ang trabaho ko dahil ito ay ni-refer sa aking committee (The purpose of the hearing is in aid of legislation...As for me, I'm just doing my job because it was referred to my committee)," Chua explained. 

While the Manila solon refrained from concluding that impeachment was inevitable, he acknowledged that the current findings may form a basis for such action. 

“Kung ganito ang pagbabasehan natin, pwedeng may grounds. But siyempre ayaw po natin mag-conclude pa,” he said 

(If this will be our basis, then there may be grounds. But of course, we don't want to conclude yet.)