Sara personally receives House panel invite

MANILA, Philippines —  Vice President Sara Duterte personally received Wednesday night the invitation of the House committee on good government and public accountability to attend its hearing on Nov. 20.

The House committee, chaired by Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua, is investigating the alleged misuse of the Office of the Vice President (OVP)’s P612.5-million confidential funds since Duterte assumed office in 2022 and when she was still secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd).

The committee secretariat presented the invitation to Duterte when she appeared on Wednesday uninvited at the hearing of the quad committee of the House of Representatives to give moral support to her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.

“Your presence is necessary to provide clarifications on the Office of the Vice President’s budget utilization from your assumption of office in 2022 to the present, including questions on the projects/programs and/or beneficiaries of said projects/programs of your honorable office, regular and confidential funds, and other related matters,” Chua, who signed the invitation letter, said.

Chua said that since his committee’s hearing is a legislative inquiry, Sara is required to submit all communications including reasons if ever she will not attend the proceedings.

Sara’s receipt and signing of the committee’s invitation was seen as a signal of her readiness to respond to the inquiries.

She consistently snubbed the past hearings of the committee claiming that they were “politically motivated.”

In a press conference early this week, Chua accused Sara of employing a “cover-up” by preventing several officials of the OVP and DepEd who have direct knowledge on the utilization of the two agencies’ confidential intelligence funds to attend.

The congressmen particularly want to question Sara’s OVP undersecretary and chief of staff Zuleika Lopez and Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta, who have continuously been absent in the hearing despite being invited to appear.

House Minority Leader Marcelino Libanan urged Lopez to grab the opportunity this time to defend herself by appearing before the congressional hearings.

“Their continued nonappearance, without a credible explanation, is bound to reinforce the perception that they are trying to evade responsibility for potential irregularities,” Libanan said.

Lopez left the county on Nov. 4, or the day before the slated hearing.

The OVP is under scrutiny for its use of P500 million in confidential funds spanning from the last quarter of 2022 through the first three quarters of 2023, while the DepEd of Sara’s term is being questioned for over P112.5 million in confidential funds.

Documents submitted by the Commission on Audit to the House committee showed that COA flagged nearly half of the total, disallowing P73 million of the P125 million spent by the OVP in just 11 days during the last quarter of 2022.

COA also issued audit observation memorandums for P375 million spent in the first three quarters of 2023, citing alleged irregularities.

The committee is also questioning the authenticity of at least 158 acknowledgment receipts submitted by the OVP to the COA to justify its confidential expenses, saying the “red flags” in the documents point to possible forgery. – Miriam Desacada