MANILA, Philippines — Liquidation papers submitted by Vice President Sara Duterte herself to the Commission on Audit (COA) showed the Office of the Vice President (OVP) kept a total of 34 safehouses since she assumed office in mid-2022 until fiscal year 2023.
The slideshow presentation displayed during yesterday’s hearing on the probe of the OVP’s alleged misuse of funds by the House committee on good government and public accountability revealed that the rental rates of the safehouses ranged from P25,000 per night to as high as P1 million.
In December 2022 alone, rental payments totaled P8.75 million – P3.7 million for Dec. 27, P2.6 million for Dec. 28 and P2.4 million for Dec. 29.
But according to the OVP’s liquidation papers, which Duterte herself and special disbursing officer Gina Acosta signed in December 2022, the “rental of safehouses” reached a total of P16 million, which probably represented the fourth quarter expenditures of the same year.
COA records indicated the OVP spent as much as P91,000 daily for a month’s rent of a premium condominium unit in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig and P25,000 every night for safehouses they have rented in “luxury resorts.”
Panel chairman Rep. Joel Chua compared the rental prices to other properties in BGC, noting that monthly rentals in the area are typically around P90,000, far lower than the daily rate of P91,000 purportedly paid for by the OVP.
Based on lawmakers’ estimates, the P16 million OVP spent for 11 days – or roughly P91,000 daily – is way higher than rates in world-class five-star hotels in world-renowned Boracay, specifically high-end resorts like Shangri-La Hotel Boracay.
The Chua committee found out the OVP spent a total of P53 million in rental of safehouses from the last quarter of 2022 up to the third quarter of 2023 – all covered by 34 acknowledgment receipts issued by Duterte.
The panel also revealed the breakdown of the costs. In fourth quarter of 2022, the OVP had P16 million that was spent only for 11 days, while in first quarter 2023 another P16 million was used for 53 days. Second quarter 2023 saw another P16 million disbursed for 67 days, while in the third quarter of the same year, P5 million was spent in 79 days.
However, the so-called expenditures were apparently justified using acknowledgment receipts that were unsigned, illegible, missing names or only included the signatures of recipients. These receipts also lacked supporting documents such as lease contracts or other pertinent records.
In an “accomplishment report” Duterte signed, the OVP listed “purchase of information” for P14 million, payment of reward for P10 million, safehouses’ rental for P16 million, supplies purchase for P35 million, purchase of food and medicines for P40 million and “confidential operations” for P10 million.
The OVP also stated in the same document that it “conducted surveillance in 132 areas” and for which the P125 million amount – more than half the COA disallowed – covered the liquidation for the confidential and intelligence funds issued to Duterte.
In the same vein, Duterte and Acosta, in a March 2023 certification issued to COA, stated that the “expenditures (are) necessary and utilized for legal purposes.”
Meanwhile, the panel issued a subpoena ad testificandum to six OVP officials yesterday for their refusal to attend the House probe on the office’s expenditures.
The officials include Acosta, OVP chief of staff Zuleika Lopez, lawyers Lemuel Ortonio and Rosalynne Sanchez, Julieta Villadelrey and Edward Fajarda.
Chua also made the motion to issue an immigration lookout bulletin order against the six officials which shall be in coordination with the Bureau of Immigration. It was approved unanimously by the panel members.
OVP officials have snubbed yesterday’s panel hearing as they believe the hearing is “unnecessary and that the attendance of the officials and personnel is not needed.”
In a seven-page position paper submitted to the House panel, high-ranking staff members of the OVP maintained that they have the right “to refuse to participate in the proceedings.”
The position paper was signed by 19 OVP officials earlier invited by the committee to answer queries on the OVP’s utilization of its budget in 2022 and 2023.
Recycled certificate?
Duterte apparently put one over COA when she recycled a liquidation certificate from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) over a P15 million-worth student activity when she was still education secretary.
The good governance panel led by Chua stumbled upon the eight Department of Education (DepEd)-sponsored “Youth Leadership Seminar” for which – it turned out – all expenses were paid in 2023 by the AFP.
Lawmakers noted that as per the documents the OVP submitted to COA, the amount of P15 million appeared to have been utilized as “payment for informants” when no other accompanying documents have been turned over to state auditors.
Lt. Col. Manaros Boransing II of the Philippine Army (PA) belied the liquidation reports of DepEd, which was then under Duterte, that the amount was spent for the purpose.
Upon interpellation from Rep. Gerville Luistro, the military officer confirmed it was the PA that shouldered the cost for Army “participants” while the 40 students who attended were taken care of by the local government units (LGUs) concerned.
“They used some funds from the provincial local government fund and the municipalities. Some delegates also are using the municipal LGU funds. And for the participants from the other stakeholders — from DepEd, from PDEA, from the police, of course they used their own funds,” Boransing explained.
“So it’s really a multi-stakeholder program,” the AFP official told lawmakers. “For instance, their billeting, for the hotel, they have to pay from their own agency funds, for their food they have to pay. It’s KKB (kanya-kanyang bayad).”
Luistro then put the story succinctly and went directly to the point.
“In other words, these certification submitted by the AFP officers are being used as justification for the P15 million utilization paid as reward to informers?” asked Luistro, which COA lawyer Gloria Camora affirmed.