The House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability chaired by Manila Rep. Joel Chua on Tuesday resumed its inquiry into the fund utilization of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) during the tenure of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop raised concerns about the use of confidential funds wherein he said improper or false liquidation processes suggest misuse and that “if liquidation instruments are incorrect, the funds were either pocketed or used for other purposes.”
Acop highlighted that what appears to have happened is the submission of faulty documentary evidence of payments (DEPs) or acknowledgment receipts (ARs) to legalize the spending.
“But as it is, ‘yong liquidation instruments ay mali-mali po. Kaya sigurado ako hindi po napunta sa tama ‘yong pondo. There are only two things na pinuntahan ng pondo, nagamit sa iba or ibinulsa,” he said. (The liquidation instruments are faulty. I am sure that the funds were used wrongly. There are only two places the funds could have gone. Either it was used by others or it was pocketed,(
Nueva Ecija Rep. Mikaela Angela Suansing presented a different report showing significant increases in the OVP’s regular expenditures, as outlined in the 2023 and 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA), compared to pre-2022 levels.
“Mas malaki po o di hamak na mas malaki ‘yong expenditure ng OVP,” she stated, emphasizing the drastic rise in costs for supplies and materials between 2023 and 2024. (The OVP expenditure is much bigger.)
The expenditures have notably surged from 2023, and are proposed to remain high in 2025, with substantial increases across various categories.
Commission on Audit (COA) Audit Team Leader Fahad Bin Abdulmalik Tomawis explained that the primary reason for the higher expenditures in 2023 and 2024 are due to extensive disaster relief operations and the establishment of OVP satellite offices.
Several committee members expressed disappointment after key resource persons from the OVP skipped the hearing, prompting the panel to issue another subpoena for their attendance in the next hearing.
“I just hope that they realize that the committee is providing them an ample due process and avenue for them to be able to refute, to belie the findings that we have established already. But they prefer not attending the hearing rather than giving their due explanation to all the issues which have been raised already,” Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro said.