House calls for VP military aides; AFP to cooperate

LIVE FROM VMMC Vice President Sara Duterte faces the press on Tuesday during another visit to Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City, where her chief of staff Zuleika Lopez has been confined since Saturday after spending days in detention at the House of Representatives. —Niño Jesus Orbeta

MANILA, Philippines — The blue ribbon committee of the House of Representatives has invited two ranking officers of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG) to answer claims that they disbursed P612.5 million in confidential funds under the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd).

Special disbursing officers (SDO) identified Col. Raymund Dante Lachica and Col. Dennis Nolasco as responsible for disbursing millions of pesos in cash from Vice President Sara Duterte’s confidential funds under the OVP and DepEd during a House of Representatives hearing on Monday.

Lachica is the commander of the VPSPG while Nolasco was assigned as a security officer at DepEd and is reportedly currently “on schooling.”

READ: OVP exec: I left secret funds to security head as per VP Sara’s order

Manila Rep. Joel Chua, chair of the House committee on good government and public accountability, said the two will be invited to the next hearing this Friday.

In response, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said it would cooperate with the ongoing congressional probe.

“If they are summoned to the investigation, the Armed Forces of the Philippines will cooperate,” AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla said at a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on Tuesday.

Padilla, however, declined to comment further. “As this is an ongoing investigation, we would not want to issue statements that will hamper or influence the proceedings. So at this point, we shun from making statements that will influence the result of the investigation,” she said.

VP’s instructions

The ongoing House probe stemmed from the alleged misuse of millions in Duterte’s confidential funds.

With the House panel’s invitation, Lachica and Nolasco are expected to explain why Duterte delegated to them the responsibility of disbursing the OVP’s P500-million and DepEd’s P112.5-million confidential funds.

Gina Acosta and Edward Fajarda, SDOs of the OVP and DepEd, respectively, told the committee during Monday night’s hearing that the Vice President ordered them to turn over the funds to Lachica and Nolasco.

“I did not disburse (the confidential funds) in reality,” Acosta said, adding that it was Lachica, who had the trust of the “head of office,” who did.

The P125 million encashed and handed over by Acosta to Lachica represented the confidential funds allocated to the OVP for the last quarter of 2022 but were used within just 11 days in December of that year. The OVP subsequently received an additional P125 million per quarter for the first three quarters of 2023.

The Commission on Audit flagged nearly half of the initial P125 million, disallowing P73 million spent in the 11-day period in late 2022.

Audit observation memorandums were also issued for the remaining P375 million spent in 2023, citing multiple irregularities.

Designated security officer

Fajarda, on the other hand, maintained that he turned over DepEd’s P112.5-million confidential fund for the first three quarters of 2023 to Nolasco as Duterte’s designated security officer. He said he did not spend the funds but relied on Nolasco, who he claimed was an “expert” at conducting confidential operations.

When grilled by Quezon Rep. David Suarez on who gave Nolasco the authority to manage the funds, Fajarda replied that the directive came from the Vice President. “I was informed by VP Sara that there is a designated security officer,” he said.

Fajarda encashed P37.5 million, part of the P112.5 million in confidential funds under DepEd, as a cash advance in the first quarter of 2023, with two additional checks of the same amount withdrawn in subsequent quarters while Duterte was leading the education department.

In the same hearing, Fajarda, who is now serving as an executive in the OVP, also testified that he solicited personal bank account details from DepEd officials and delivered cash envelopes under Duterte’s instructions.

“Actually po, I was instructed by VP Sara,” Fajarda said when Tingog Rep. Jude Acidre questioned why he was asking about bank details. He added that the funds were handed to him by the Vice President herself and that the cash envelopes were distributed to DepEd superintendents, although not all received them.

“During po kasi sa pag-iikot ni VP Sara, nakita po niya doon ’yung superintendent gumagastos ng sarili nilang pera sa office fieldwork nila (During VP Sara’s visits, she observed that some superintendents were spending their personal money on office fieldwork),” Fajarda said.

However, Acidre presented evidence, including screenshots and affidavits, suggesting that a broader group of officials, particularly in Region 7 (Central Visayas), had been contacted.

“Kung titingnan mo sa screenshot, ‘yung lahat po ng superintendent sa Region 7 ay inyo pong kinontak at hiningan. Ibig sabihin silang lahat po nabigyan (Based on the screenshots, it seems all superintendents in Region 7 were contacted. Does that mean they all received cash)?” Acidre said. Fajarda reiterated that not all superintendents received the cash envelopes.

Similar disclosures

When asked about where the funds came from, Fajarda confirmed that the Vice President handed it out. “Binibigay po ‘yun sa akin ni VP Sara (VP Sara gave it to me),” he said.

This admission aligns with similar disclosures from other former DepEd officials, including former undersecretary Gloria Mercado and former chief accountant Rhunna Catalan, who previously acknowledged receiving cash from Duterte.

Acidre highlighted the pattern, noting the consistency of the testimonies across multiple witnesses.

“‘Pag naging panauhin po namin ang mga superintendents at regional directors, we would expect that would be the response—na hindi po lahat at hindi po regular (When we bring in superintendents and regional directors, we expect the response will be that not everyone received cash, and it was irregular)?” Acidre said.

“Yes, your honor,” Fajarda replied. —with a report from PNA