VP SARA
WRONG OVP PEOPLE
A House leader aired suspicion of a cover up as he noted the selection of Office of the Vice President officials sent by Vice President Sara Duterte to the House hearing on the alleged misuse of confidential funds.
Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua, chair of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, expressed dismay at the non-appearance of the OVP officials who have direct responsibility for handling the public fund under scrutiny.
“Ang nakikita po natin 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 press conference.
During the committee’s fifth hearing, OVP career officials—including Administrative and Financial Services Director Rosalynne Sanchez, Chief Accountant Julieta Villadelrey, Budget Division Chief Edelyn Rabago and Chief Administrative Officer Kelvin Gerome Tenido — have testified after multiple invitations and a subpoena.
However, Duterte’s close associates, such as OVP Undersecretary and Chief of Staff Zuleika Lopez and Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta, were not present.
Both Lopez and Acosta served as Duterte’s staff during her tenure as Davao City mayor.
The OVP career officials testified they had no personal knowledge or involvement with the CIFs, instead pointing to Lopez and Acosta as those primarily responsible, as both belong to Duterte’s inner circle.
House Assistant Majority Leader and Zambales Rep. Jay Khonghun criticized Duterte’s actions, which he said showed “selective participation” intended to shield her inner circle from scrutiny.
“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 remarked, echoing Chua’s concern that sending officials without direct involvement gave the impression of a cover-up.
Responding to Duterte’s claim that certain officials were busy preparing for the OVP’s anniversary and could not attend, Chua pointed out that the committee had sent multiple invitations that had been ignored.
The committee seeks explanations from OVP officials on the alleged misuse of P500-million worth of CIFs for the last quarter of 2022 and the first three quarters of 2023.
COA flagged nearly half of the total, disallowing P73 million of the P125 million spent by the OVP in just 11 days during the last quarter of 2022. It also issued Audit Observation Memorandums for P375 million spent in the first three quarters of 2023, citing alleged irregularities.
