Representatives Joel Chua and Pammy Zamora expressed their suspicions that the Office of the Vice President acknowledgment receipts (ARs) presented by the Commission on Audit (COA) may be fake.
In a media conference on Tuesday, Chua, chairperson of the Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, responded to a query from Earl Tobias of IBC-13 regarding whether he agreed with the speculation that the ARs were falsified to facilitate disbursements from the COA.
“Well, kung hindi po nila masasagot ng maayos, ‘yun ang lumalabas,” Chua said.
In previous hearings, concerns were raised about the ARs, with allegations that the names appeared fictitious, the handwriting seemed identical, and the ink used appeared to be from the same pen.
“Kung titingnan niyo ‘yung acknowledgement receipt na binibigay po nila, puro porma, pare-parehas,” Chua said.
“Ngayon ang tanong namin dito, saan napunta ‘yung pera?” He asked.
Taguig 2nd District Representative Pammy Zamora elaborated on the issue, emphasizing that the requirements for an acknowledgment receipt are straightforward. However, she noted that the COA allowed significant mistakes to go uncorrected.
“Very simple ‘yung requirements. It’s just an acknowledgement receipt. It asks for a signature. Nanghihingi ng signature, ng pangalan, ng petsya. Ang daming acknowledgement receipts dun, na nakita namin, mayroong walang petsya, mayroong pirma lang, walang pangalan, mayroon pangalan walang pirma, mayroon mali ang petsa,” she said.
Zamora pointed out that the COA overlooked these discrepancies despite the release of large sums of money based on the suspicious receipts.
“On my end, talagang kaduda-duda,” she said.
“Napakalaking halaga, pero ganito na nga lang ang requirement, hindi pa maitama,” Zamora added.