Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro questions Lt. Col. Carlos Sangdaan Jr. at a hearing on the DepEd fund use on Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. —Screenshot from a House of Representatives video posted on Facebook
MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Army officials assured a House of Representatives panel on Thursday that they would have not given the Department of Education (DepEd) certifications for youth training programs if they had known that they would be used for a different purpose.
The Army officials present at the House committee on good government and public accountability hearing on Thursday were retired Maj. Gen. Adonis Bajao, Col. Manaros Boransing II, Col. Magtanggol Panopio, and Lt. Col. Carlos Sangdaan Jr.
They all said that they would have not issued certifications for the Youth Leadership Summit (YSL) if they had known that DepEd would use it to justify expenses for the reward of informants.
“If you knew that a certification from you would be used to justify an expense that never passed your office, which you never used — hypothetically, by any office, not just the office of the DepEd secretary — would you issue a certification? Knowing fully well that it would be used to justify an expense which you never had a hand on?” Bukidnon 2nd District Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores asked.
“As with all Army units and AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] units, for example, if there was a multi-stakeholder activity, Mr. Chair, and someone from another agency is asking for a certification but he or she was not present, we would not issue the certificate of appearance or any certificate for that matter,” Boransing replied.
Panopio also gave the same answer to Flores’ question.
“First of all, there was no mention of certification of funds in the certification, Your Honor. But if we are aware that it will be used and we did not receive the money, we will not issue the certification, Your Honor,” Panopio said.
The answers from the military officials came after Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro asked the Army executives if they were aware that DepEd was going to use their certifications to justify expenses that were labeled as rewards for informants.
It was Luistro who observed that DepEd, which was under Vice President Sara Duterte, supposedly made it appear that it was bankrolling the AFP for its YLS — an anti-insurgency campaign for young people.
Luistro’s conclusion came as Boransing said that funds from AFP and local government units were used for the YLS.
READ: DepEd under Duterte makes it seem it’s funding AFP training – solon
Aside from this, Luistro was also able to confirm with the Commission on Audit (COA) that DepEd supposedly allocated P15 million of its CF to reward informants, but used as acknowledgement receipts certifications from the Army officials about the YSL.
Retired Maj. Gen. Nolasco Mempin — a former Education undersecretary — also admitted that DepEd did not allocate funds for the YLS since it is an AFP program.
“Mr. Chair, I want to ask the COA [Commission on Audit] — Attorney Camora, is my understanding correct, that the AOM [Audit Observation Manual], there is a disallowance worth P75 million. Out of the P75 million, you are asking for supporting documents of the P15 million which were paid as rewards to informers,” Luistro said.
“Yes, Mr. Chair,” COA audit team leader Gloria Camora replied.
“In response to the supporting documents that DepEd submitted, these certifications about the Youth Leadership Summits. Is this correct?” Luistro asked. “In other words, these certifications submitted by the AFP officers are being used as justification for the P15 million utilization paid as a reward to informers, correct?”
“Yes, Mr. Chair,” Camora confirmed again.
DepEd and the Office of the Vice President (OVP) have been the subject of the committee investigation after House hearings revealed issues with the agencies’ financial management — like reports of low budget utilization and other anomalies.
No less than House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe previously said that Duterte could be held liable for graft if she could not explain how funds were spent, particularly regarding items with adverse findings from the Commission on Audit (COA).
READ: Sara Duterte’s confidential fund spending raises new, more doubts
Duterte and several former officials invited did not show up to the hearing, claiming that the House panel has no jurisdiction over the issue.