Vice President Sara Duterte is under fire after revelations that the Department of Education (DepEd) used a certification from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to justify the use of confidential funds without allocating any actual budget.
This issue came to light during the House committee on good government and public accountability hearing, where the P15 million confidential fund used to pay informants was discussed.
Batangas 2nd District Representative Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro questioned current and retired AFP officials about the certification used by DepEd to liquidate the P15 million fund.
Retired Maj. Gen. Adonis Bajao, Lt. Col. Carlos Sangdaan Jr., and Colonels Manaros Boransing and Magtangol Panopio clarified that the certification was related to Youth Leadership Summits (YLS) held in 2023.
However, the officials denied receiving any funds from DepEd for the YLS, a fact confirmed by retired Gen. Nolasco Mempin, a former DepEd Undersecretary.
When asked again, Mempin confirmed that no funds were transferred from DepEd to AFP for the YLS, adding that he was unaware that the certification would be used to justify payments to informants.
Boransing further explained that the YLS events were funded by the Philippine Army and local governments.
Rep. Luistro emphasized the discrepancy between the certification submitted by DepEd and the statements made by military officials.
COA representative Atty. Gloria Camora confirmed that the P15 million was part of the P75 million confidential fund flagged by COA due to insufficient documentation.
In a previous hearing, Surigao del Sur 2nd District Representative Johnny Pimentel questioned the use of P112.5 million in confidential funds for a seminar with limited attendance.
It was revealed that DepEd’s special disbursing officer, Edward Fajarda, was responsible for a P75 million cash advance from the confidential fund, using the AFP certification to justify the expenditure.