Marcoleta says OVP probe won’t craft, amend laws; Acop, Garin disagree

MANILA, Philippines — Sagip party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta on Monday claimed that the congressional probe on allegations of fund misuse within the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd) do not intend to come up with new laws or even amendments.

During his turn to interpellate resource persons at the House of Representatives’ committee on good government and public accountability hearing, Marcoleta claimed that the committee should have set its sights on a specific bill or law to amend before discussing issues hounding OVP and DepEd.

“Mr. Chair, considering that you mentioned Article VI Section 21 of the Philippine Constitution, that relates to our function in aid of legislation, its inquiry or investigation in aid of legislation, incidentally Mr. Chair, Section 22 is the oversight function of Congress. Dapat sana ang COA ay do’n po kayo bumase, not under Section 21 because that is in aid of legislation,” Marcoleta, a lawyer, said.

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

“That is the limitation imposed by law. Hindi po lahat ng investigation ay pu-pwede, under that particular section of 21, there should be a legislative purpose, nakabalangkas na po ’yon, gagawa ng batas habang nagtatanong o pagkatapos na magtanong. Very clear po,” he added. “Dapat, pre-requisite po naka-balangkas na ’yong batas.”

READ: Chua reminds public: Use of OVP, DepEd secret funds is the issue

But Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop mentioned a Supreme Court (SC) decision which stated that committee hearings in aid of legislation may end without any bill crafted or law amended.

Acop, another lawyer who said that he does not want to debate with Marcoleta, said this opens the possibility that inquiries in aid of legislation have no by-product.

“I do not want to debate with the erudite Honorable Marcoleta, but I think Article VI, Section 21 of the 1987 Constitution will be followed. Why? Because this was strengthened by the case of Romero versus Estrada, in the year 2009, where it was decided by the Supreme Court,” Acop noted.

“I would like to quote: ‘Inquiries in aid of legislation are utilized to enable the legislative body to gather information, and thus legislate wisely and effectively, and to determine whether there is a need to improve existing laws, or enact new or remedial legislation, albeit, the inquiry need not result in any potential legislation.’ Those are the words of the [SC],” he added.

Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin meanwhile noted that the committee’s investigation actually shows the need to strengthen laws regarding fund disbursement, after past and present OVP and DepEd personnel admitted potential problems regarding utilization.

During the same hearing on Monday, OVP’s Special Disbursing Officer (SDO) Gina Acosta admitted that she left confidential fund (CF) disbursements to Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG) chief Col. Raymund Dante Lachica, in accordance with orders from Vice President Sara Duterte.

This meant that the VPSPG head was the one who distributed the money encashed by Acosta, but it was the latter who signed disbursement documents.

Assistant Secretary Lemuel Ortonio said he does not see anything wrong with OVP’s system—prompting Garin’s reply.

“Mr. Chair, kanina tinanong ni Congressman Marcoleta, ano muna daw ang mga batas na pwede nating gawin dito and this is very clear that we need stronger laws, because we have people in government being given a huge task, handling millions and billions of pesos, na hindi nila naiintindihan ang responsibilidad na kaakibat ng ganito,” Garin said.

“Uulitin ko Mr. Chair, ang sinasabi ni Sir Lemuel Ortonio, kung siya ang SDO, kung siya si Ma’am Gina Acosta, pwede niyang utusan na iba na gawin ang trabaho niya, pwede niyang i-utos sa iba ang pamigay ng pera […] many people, high ranking officers do not understand the degree of accountability handling billions of pesos, then we’re doomed,” she added.

Expenses made by Vice President Duterte’s offices—OVP and the DepEd, before she resigned from the post—have been scrutinized amid several observations from the Commission on Audit (COA) regarding irregularities.

For OVP, COA previously handed out a notice of disallowance on P73.2 million of the offices’ P125-million confidential fund (CF) 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.

Regarding DepEd, there have been questions about the low number of classrooms constructed while Duterte was Education Secretary. Eventually, it was revealed that the DepEd under Duterte supposedly made it seem that their CFs were used for a youth training program when it was the Armed Forces of the Philippines and local government units that shouldered the expenses.

READ: DepEd under Duterte makes it seem it’s funding AFP training – solon

There are also fears that fictitious personalities—such as a certain Mary Grace Piattos—was used to authenticate acknowledgement receipts (ARs) of OVP’s expenditures, particularly those involving CFs.

Last November 5, Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo who pointed out to COA that several of the ARs were signed by Piattos, whose first name is similar to a coffee shop while having a last name of a famous potato chip brand.