House panel excuses OVP legal chief after refusal to take oath

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MANILA, Philippines — An individual who claimed to head the Office of the Vice President (OVP) Legal Affairs Department was excused from a House of Representatives hearing on Monday after refusing to take an oath to tell the truth and coming in without a letter of authority.

At the hearing of the House committee on good government and public accountability, lawyer Emily Torrentina was asked to explain why she did not receive the panel’s summons for OVP personnel deemed material to investigations into alleged fund misuse.

Torrentina was set to explain her side to Santa Rosa City Rep. Dan Fernandez, but the committee secretariat reminded Fernandez that Torrentina had not taken her oath yet.

However, when the new resource persons were asked to take their oath to tell the truth, Torrentina refused, saying that she was not invited to the hearing.

“No, your Honor, I am not refusing to take the oath, prior to being asked to take the oath I was trying to explain, your Honor, that I am not an invited resource person. Second, that I’ve only been asked now to explain why there was no receipt of a subpoena for the persons who are not present here.  That is what I have been trying to say, your Honors, respectfully,” Torrentina said.

“I just wanted to explain that as part of the legal affairs division of the office, I wanted to explain why we did not receive it.  In accordance with the rules governing inquiries in aid of legislation, wherein the Rules of Court suppletorily applies, Rule 14 in relation to Rule 21 of the Rules of Court, your Honors, personal service must be made to resource persons who are being issued subpoena,” she added.

Fernandez wanted to throw more questions to Torrentina, but Abang Lingkod party-list Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano said resource persons should take their oath first before being recognized.

“Mr. Chair, your Honor, I am the Chief of Legal Affairs of the Office of the Vice President … I am here to represent the institution, your Honor,” Torrentina said.

“So you are here to represent the institution, you should, before talking, you should take your oath.  Because that is on record.  You’re a lawyer, you know that, you cannot speak unless, until you take your oath.  That’s the rule, internal rules of this House and of this committee,” Paduano said.  “You cannot speak unless you take your oath, or else I will move to excuse you from this room.”

Deputy Speaker David Suarez asked if Torrentina submitted any document to show that she was the official OVP representative for the hearing. The committee secretariat said there was none.

This led Paduano to move that Torrentina’s statements be stricken from the record and that she be escorted out of the hearing room.

Suarez, meanwhile, clarified that Torrentina was excused from the hearing because of her inability to ascertain that she was authorized to represent the OVP.

“I just want to put things into the proper perspective, particularly the reason why we excused an individual who attended our hearing.  There might be a misunderstanding as to why she was excused from our hearing.  Number one, she was not invited to attend today’s hearing,” Suarez said in Filipino.

“Number two, she did not take her oath, so we don’t even know the personalities and the circumstances to why she is here and no communication was forwarded to the committee as to her attendance, for all we know she could be somebody posing for somebody, and the committee cannot act on mere presentation without proper representation to the said committee Mr. Chair,” he added.

This is not the first time that an official from the OVP refused to take an oath to tell the truth during the committee on good government and public accountability hearing. Last September 18, Vice President Sara Duterte refused to take an oath, saying it was only required for witnesses.

When Duterte was told that witnesses were “considered resource persons,” she insisted that a sworn testimony was only for witnesses.

READ: VP Sara Duterte refuses to take oath at House hearing

The committee has been investigating alleged fund misuse at the OVP and the Department of Education under Duterte, including the supposed irregularities in confidential fund expenditures.

The Commission on Audit (COA) has handed out a notice of disallowance on P73.2 million of the OVP’s P125-million confidential fund for 2022 — an item which several lawmakers said should not be available in the first place, as the original budget crafted during the time of former vice president Leni Robredo did not have this item.

The observations have led the committee to check on the issues on the OVP’s budget utilization.

House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe previously said that Duterte may be held liable for graft if she cannot explain how the funds were spent, particularly items with adverse findings from the COA.

READ: Sara Duterte’s confidential fund spending raises new, more doubts