After a former Department of Education (DepEd) official accused her of showering subordinates with money, Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday called on lawmakers to stop inviting resource persons who “don’t have credibility” during congressional hearings.
Duterte issued the statement after former DepEd Undersecretary Gloria Mercado alleged that the Vice President, who previously served as Education secretary, gave DepEd undersecretaries and assistant secretaries envelopes containing roughly worth P50,000 in cash on a monthly basis.
According to Duterte, Mercado has now been used as part of the “political machinery” against her.
“Sa pagpapatuloy ng mga tangka na sirain ang pagkatao ko, nais ko sanang himukin ang ating mga mambabatas na itigil ang paggamit ng mga testigo na walang kredibilidad o di kaya ay kwestyonable ang layunin,” she said.
(As the attempts to defame me continue, I would like to urge our legislators to stop using witnesses who lack credibility or may have questionable intent.)
“Halimbawa nito ay si Gloria Mercado na tinanggal sa pwesto bilang undersecretary ng Department of Education at ngayon ay bahagi na ng political machinery laban sa akin. Nais ng Kongreso na paniwalaan ng mga Pilipino si Mercado at kalimutan na umamin itong masama ang kanyang loob nang mawala sa pwesto,” she added.
(An example of this is Gloria Mercado who was removed from her position as DepEd undersecretary and is now part of the political machinery against me. Congress wants Filipinos to believe Mercado and forget that she admitted that she was upset when she left her post.)
During the hearing of the House committee on good government and public accountability on Wednesday, Mercado, who served as former head of Procuring Entity (HoPE) at DepEd, said that she received a total of nine envelopes between February 2023 to September 2023.
These envelopes, she said, came directly from Duterte’s office and were handed to her monthly by Assistant Secretary Sunshine Fajarda.
“My office confirmed that it was upon the instruction of the Office of the Secretary. Evidently, it would appear that regional directors and other employees on the field would also receive sums on top of their regular salaries,” Mercado said.
She said the nine envelopes were already empty since she donated them to charitable institutions.
Mercado said that OVP Undersecretary and chief of staff Zuleika Lopez asked her to resign when she opposed the apparent negotiated procurement for the DepEd Computerization Program.
Duterte on Wednesday called Mercado a ”disgruntled former employee” who was supposedly let go due to “loss of trust and confidence.”
The Vice President reiterated her allegations against her former subordinate, saying that Mercado solicited P16 million from a private company, and that the latter gave an individual from Region 7 a teaching item and had him/her work at the DepEd central office as her executive assistant.
Duterte also cited minutes of Teacher Education Council (TEC) meetings, indicating that Mercado allegedly delayed the appointment of the TEC executive director.
“Maliban sa hinaharap na kaso ng korapsyon, kilala din si Mercado sa kanyang ugaling paninira sa mga kasamahan sa trabaho, kabilang na ng kapwa matataas na opisyal ng DepEd. Sa akin mismo ay sinubukan ni Mercado na siraan ang tatlong opisyal ng DepEd,” Duterte added.
(Aside from facing a corruption case, Mercado is also known for her behavior of making false accusations against her colleagues, including fellow DepEd senior officials. She personally tried to defame three DepEd officials.)
With this, Duterte said she hopes Congress will reconsider inviting such witnesses against her that could ruin the lives and future of “innocent” DepEd employees and their families.
OVP budget
Meanwhile, a House leader said Thursday that the Office of Vice President (OVP) should not be granted its proposed P2 billion budget for 2025 amid questionable spending in the OVP and during her tenure as DepEd Secretary.
House Assistant Minority Leader and Camarines Sur lawmaker Gabriel Bordado Jr. made the statement a day after the House of Representatives approved the proposed P6.325 trillion budget for 2025 which reduced the OVP’s proposed budget to P733 million followed by her three no shows during budget deliberations at the House appropriations panel and House plenary.
Bordado said the OVP under Vice President Duterte spending P125 million of its confidential funds within 11 days in December 2022 is already not a good precedent, given that the OVP only had a P703 million budget for the whole year of 2022 under then Vice President Leni Robredo whose term ended on June 30 of the same year.
“Under Vice President Leni Robredo, the OVP operated with a budget of P703 million in 2022. Despite these constraints, her office implemented impactful, transparent programs focused on good governance and social service delivery, with every peso accounted for and allocated prudently. Why, then, should the OVP be allocated such enormous sums when other agencies are better equipped to deliver these services?,” Bordado added.
“Congress owes it to the Filipino people to ensure their hard-earned money is spent transparently, effectively, and in a manner that truly benefits them,” Bordado said.
The P1.29 billion cut from the OVP’s proposed 2025 budget was realigned to the following:
- P646,532,796 million for the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Assistance to Individuals In Crisis Situations program; and
- P646,533,796 million for the Department of Health’s (DOH) Medical Assistance for Indigent and Financially Incapacitated Patients.
Confidential funds for youth summits
House Assistant Majority Leader Johnny Pimentel of Surigao del Sur, for his part, questioned the Department of Education under then Secretary Duterte spending of P112.5 million of its confidential funds in 2023 for Youth Leadership Summits, given that the initiative only involved 3,000 students.
“Pagpapakain lang ng almost 3,000 students, uubusin ba natin ng P112.5 million? Kahit na tatlong buwan silang mag-hotel, hindi maubos ang P112.5 million,” Pimentel said during the House good government panel inquiry on OVP’s budget use.
(Feeding 3,000 students needs P112.5 million? Even if it lasts three months of hotel stays, they cannot use up P112.5 million.)
“Kahit na confidential fund po iyan, that is still taxpayer’s money. Napakalaking halaga ang P112 million para sa Youth Leadership Summit,” Pimentel added.
(Even if this is confidential fund, that is still taxpayer’s money. P112 million is a substantial amount for the Youth Leadership Summit.)
The OVP’s use of P112.5 million of its confidential funds in 2023 was cited by state auditors in an audit observation memorandum (AOM) as expenses without sufficient documentation.
The AOMs on the P112.5 million confidential funds disbursed were dated February 1, 2024, and August 8, 2024, both addressed to DepEd’s special disbursing officer Edward Fajarda.
An AOM, however, is only an initial finding from the Commission on Audit that the agency concerned, in this case the OVP, can rectify.
Former DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa, who was present at the hearing, clarified that the Youth Leadership Summits were not directly conducted by DepEd but were instead led by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as part of their advocacy against insurgency.
The Vice President has repeatedly denied the misuse of funds, saying that the scrutiny coming from the House of Representatives is not rooted in oversight by a dry run of impeachment efforts against her.
—RF, GMA Integrated News
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