House probe questions DepEd’s use of P112.5M for ‘youth summits’

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MANILA, Philippines — The use of confidential funds given to the Department of Education (DepEd) when it was still headed by Vice President Sara Duterte continued to be scrutinized by the House of Representatives.

This time, questions were raised about the DepEd’s use of P112.5 million in confidential funds for “youth leadership summits” in 2023.

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Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel brought it up on Wednesday’s hearing of the House committee on good government and public accountability, which Duterte again snubbed and had accused of being politically motivated.

Pimentel, the committee vice chair, asked how such a large sum could be justified for such events.

“To feed 3,000 students, you’d spend p112.5 million? Even if they stay in a hotel for three months, they can’t possibly use up P112.5 million,” the lawmaker said.

He also cast doubts on the “certifications” issued by military officials for the conduct of the seminars, which were among the documents submitted by DepEd for an accounting of the discretionary fund.

Pimentel cited the audit observation memorandums (AOMs) of the Commission on Audit (COA) which flagged the cash advances and liquidation reports for the summits.

No receipts, photos

The AOMs, he noted, raised concerns about the total expenditure and the lack of supporting documentation, such as receipts and photographs of the seminars.

Pimentel highlighted two AOMs, dated Feb. 1 and Aug 8, which were both addressed to Edward Fajarda, DepEd’s special disbursing officer.

Edward’s wife, Assistant Secretary Sunshine Fajarda, was said to be the DeEd officer who handed out monthly cash envelopes to the agency’s former Head of Procuring Entity (HoPE), Gloria Mercado, who also testified before the committee on Wednesday.

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The lawmaker asked that Edward be called to the next hearing since he was responsible for the P112.5 million in cash advances used for seminars and their liquidation.

Did they really happen?

The first AOM involved P75 million disbursed from July 12 to Sept. 29, 2023, while the second memo was for P37.5 million covering the period from Feb. 22 to June 29, 2023.

Pimentel asked the COA personnel present at the hearing to confirm if the youth summits actually took place, noting that the liquidation documents only included certifications from at least three Philippine Army officers.

“Do we have documentation? Do we have evidence that indeed they conducted this Youth Leadership Summit or is this only on paper?” he asked.

According to one of the certifications, he said, 531 participants took part in eight summits, while another said 205 attended one summit. The third certification reported 860 participants in nine summits.

AFP’s role

Former DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa, who appeared at Wednesday’s hearing, explained that the summits were not directly handled by DepEd but by the Armed Forces of the Philippines in line with its campaign against the communist insurgency.

“The youth Leadership Summit is not something that DepEd had conducted, but actually received certification from the AFP,” Poa said.

But Pimentel maintained that “even if that’s (done using) confidential funds, that is still taxpayers’ money. P112.5 million is such a huge amount for a youth leadership summit.”

The committee will look deeper into the matter in the next hearing, where Edward should explain the expenditure, he said.

Otherwise, “it’s very clear this is just on paper,” Pimentel added.