The House Blue Ribbon Committee panel enumerated the potential legal liabilities, both criminal and administrative, for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) officials, including Vice President (VP) Sara Duterte for the misuse of both agencies’ confidential funds.
During the Committee hearing on Monday, the lawmakers cited several offenses that may be charged against VP Duterte and her officials. Five potential offenses were mentioned by several lawmakers: technical malversation, falsification of documents, perjury, bribery and corruption, and plunder.
AKO Bicol Party-list Rep. Raul Angelo Bongalon began the presentation by stating that officials can be charged for technical malversation.
Technical Malversation
According to Bongalon, an accountable officer cannot be used for other things, and can only be used for its intended purpose. Even if the public funds will be used for the benefit of the people, it can still be penalized by the law.
“Ang pinag-uusapan natin sa hearing na ito ay kadalasan tungkol sa confidential funds. Paulit-ulit po and as confirmed by the Commission on Audit (COA) itself. Confidential funds are only to be used for confidential expenses,” Bongalon said.
“Kaso pagdating sa OVP, yung COA na mismo ang nag flag sa pamamagitan ng notice of disallowance which says na hindi mapakita ng accountable officers. Kulang-kulang ang mga ibinigay na dokumento o ebidensiya na magpapatunay o magpapakita na confidential funds were used for the confidential expenses that are allowed under the Joint Circular,” he added.
The Joint Circular indicates that confidential funds can only be spent for confidential expenses like those concerning national security, peace and order, and other confidential activities among others.
Moreover, the presumption of malversation indicates that an accountable officer should know where the money they have custody over was utilized. Bongalon stressed that once an officer declares that they do not know where the funds were spent, the law presumes that they stole the money; citing how Special Disbursing Officers (SDOs) Gina Acosta and Edward Fajarda said they released the funds to a military officer
“Kaya kapag accountable officer ka, dapat napaka-ingat mo na hinahawakan ang public funds na ito. Hindi mo ito basta basta ipapasa sa ibang tao. You bear the burden of making sure that the public funds go exactly to the public purpose that they were intended for,” he said.
Falsification of Documents
Amid the discovery of acknowledgment receipts with fictitious signatories, Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel stressed how both offices cannot explain the inconsistencies with the names and signatures included in the documents submitted to the COA.
The crime is committed when an officer takes advantage of his official position and falsifies a document.
“Naalala natin lahat ang kakaibang pangalan na si Mary Grace Piattos. The person that obviously does not exist, walang record ang Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) sa kanya, yet her name appears in the acknowledgement receipts submitted to liquidate the confidential funds,” he said.
It was made to appear that the signatory participated in the acknowledgment although she did not exist. The same goes for other signatories like Kokoy Villamin who signed the receipts with different signatures.
“Hindi kapani-paniwala na basta bastang nagbago na lang ang pirma ng isang tao,” Pimentel said.
Additionally, the PSA recently confirmed that these people do not exist, making it a clear violation of the said offense.
Perjury
Perjury occurs, whether orally or written when all resource persons in inquiry are placed under oath and lie before the panel during questioning. This was announced by Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro as she cited how the SDOs from both agencies were clueless as to how the liquidation and accomplishment reports were made.
“Malay po ba nila kung napunta nga ba sa intelligence or confidential operations and activities ang pera. Malay po ba nila kung totoo yung mga pinagsasabi na accomplishment report, liquidation report, and most importantly certification,” she stressed.
Moreover, the Congresswoman said that both officers signed the documents while they were under oath. VP Duterte and Acosta also signed and certified the certification before the notary public, despite claiming that they had no idea how the funds were spent.
“This means that Ms. Acosta and Mr. Fajarda did not only violate the joint circular. They also lied under oath dito sa kanilang certification. They did this not just once, not just twice, but thrice for Mr. Fajarda,” she said.
“And for Ms. Acosta, I have to state, she did it four times. Paulit-ulit silang nagsinungaling sa kanilang certifications,” she added.
Bribery and Corruption of Public Officers
“Sa isang korupsyon o anomalya, may isang nanunuhol o may isang sinusuhulan,” Luistro highlighted.
According to the lawmaker, this manifested through the white envelopes distributed over to the DepEd employees, containing P25,000 each. Employees who accepted the envelopes can be penalized, unless under disqualification, Luistro noted.
Former Education Under Secretary Gloria Mercado was the first to admit to having received nine envelopes in nine months. According to Mercado, the envelopes came from former DepEd Assistant Secretary Sunshine Fajarda who said that the money came from the VP. With this, Luistro emphasized that such an act is not a normal occurrence coming from a higher-up.
“Anyone can easily conclude that this is not merely out of (the) generous heart of VP Duterte, but was precisely given in an attempt to influence Under Secretary Mercado to which she failed to do,” she said.
During the panel’s interpellation with Mercado, the latter admitted to believing that those envelopes were given to her to influence her decision. Luistro manifested that there is a chance that the officials mentioned were not the only employees who received the envelopes with cash.
“I believe that it is only a matter of time, and I hope that light (will) be shed on this alarming revelation. Tayo po ay naniniwala na hindi lang ang tatlong opisyales na ito ang tumanggap ng may lamang pera mula sa ating Bise Presidente,” she said.
The Violation of Plunder
“Ang iisang konklusyon na aming nakikita sa mga ito ay hindi tunay, pineke lamang ang mga ito upang maipamukha lamang na ginasta ito para sa surveillance activities; upang magamit ang mga pondong ito sa ibang kagamitan o pansariling interes,” Luistro stated.
Under the law, a person can be charged with plunder once the stolen money amounts to PHP50 million. With that, Luistro cited the totality of the cheques signed for both DepEd and the OVP, totaling PHP612.5 million. This exceeds the minimum requirement for the case.
“Napaka laki at nakakalula. And to be very candid Mr. Chair, ilang bata na sana ang ating napakain. Ilang bata na sana ang ating napa-aral. At ilang pamilya na sana ang ating nabigyan ng bahay,” Luistro stressed.
Considering the amounts involved, Luistro noted that it surpassed the threshold for plunder. Although such an investigation may not be for Congress to conduct, their ultimate purpose to legislate stands. Luistro assured that it would still be conducted.
“Hindi basta basta ang mga pangyayaring natuklasan natin rito,” she said.
“We will look forward as the other agencies conduct an in-depth investigation on this, we will look forward; sino ang hub, sino ang sentro, sino ang nakikinabang, dito sa alleged will conspiracy na ito?” she added.
