VP Sara accused of selective participation in hearing on P.5M confi fund misuse
VICE President Sara Duterte was accused on Tuesday of allegedly attempting to “cover up” the alleged misuse of the P500-million confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) by preventing people close to her from attending a hearing at the House of Representatives.
Manila Third District Rep. Josel Chua, chairman of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, expressed his disappointment over the failure of some officials, directly responsible in handling the questionable funds, from attending the hearing.
“Ang nakikita po namin dito, ang pinapupunta po nila ‘yung mga career officials na sa tingin po namin e hindi naman po sila ang talagang concerned. Parang nagkakaroon po ng cover-up dito po sa issue na ito,” Chua said in a press conference.
During the fifth committee hearing last Monday, among the OVP officials present were
Administrative and Financial Services Director Rosalynne Sanchez, Chief Accountant Julieta Villadelrey, Budget Division Chief Edelyn Rabago, and Chief Administrative Officer Kelvin Gerome Tenido, who attended after being sent several invitations and subpoenas.
But people reportedly close to Duterte failed to attend, such as OVP Undersecretary and Chief of Staff Zuleika Lopez, and Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta. Both Lopez and Acosta were previously Duterte’s staff when she was still the mayor of Davao City.
Career officials of the OVP claimed that they have no personal knowledge or involvement with the confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) and pointed to Lopez and Acosta as those who have direct responsibility since both of them are among those known to be close to the Vice President.
House Assistant Majority Leader at Zambales 1st District Rep. Jay Khonghun criticized Duterte and accused her of showing “selective participation” in order to protect from the hearing those people who are close to her.
“Actually, si VP Sara is shielding her inner circle sa accountability. May selective participation, kung sino lang ‘yung gusto nilang ipadala at walang direktang kinalaman ‘dun sa liquidation ng funds ay ‘yun ‘yung pinapadala niya,” Khonghun said.
In response to Duterte’s statement that some of their officials are busy preparing for the OVP anniversary and could not attend the hearing, Chua said that they have already sent several invitations but they continue to ignore them.
From the OVP officials, the Committee is looking for explanations on the alleged misuse of the P500-million CIF during the last quarter of 2022 and first three quarters of 2023.
The Commission on Audit (COA) issued a notice of disallowance on the P73-million, out of the P125-million confidential funds, that was reportedly spent by the OVP in just 11 days, during the last quarter of 2022. It also issued an Audit Observation Memorandums for the P375-million that was spent during the first three quarters of 2023, which were suspected to have some irregularities.
