Seven OVP officials may face arrest by House

Metro Manila, Philippines — Seven officials of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) may face arrest orders from the House of Representatives if they continue to snub a panel investigation into allegations of confidential fund misuse.

The House committee on good government and public accountability, chaired by Manila 6th District Rep. Joel Chua, has been scrutinising how the ₱500-million confidential funds of Vice President Sara Duterte’s office and the ₱112.5-million confidential funds of the Department of Education (DepEd), which she previously headed, have been used.

During the inquiry on Tuesday, Nov. 5, lawmakers learned that OVP chief of staff Zuleika Lopez, who has been summoned every hearing, had fled to Los Angeles, California, USA at past 7 p.m. the night before.

The OVP confirmed Lopez’s travel from Nov. 4 to 16, saying it was “personal and unrelated to her employment” with the office.

Other officials repeatedly invited by the committee and have not showed up are:

- OVP assistant chief of staff and bids and awards committee chairman Lemuel Ortonio

- OVP administrative and financial services director Rosalynne Sanchez

- OVP special disbursing officer Gina Acosta

- OVP chief accountant Julieta Villadelrey

- former DepEd Assistant Secretary Sunshine Charry Fajarda

- former DepEd special disbursing officer Edward Fajarda

The Fajarda couple are reportedly with the OVP.

In a position paper, the officials said they refused to receive the previous subpoena as it was served after the scheduled hearing lapsed. They added the congressional inquiry is not in aid of legislation.

The committee issued another subpoena for the seven officials.

“The next time they fail to attend, we will be constrained to issue a much heavier penalty,” Chua said.

“I might make a motion to hold them in contempt because this is the fourth time. This is unfair to these people here who have attended every time that they're called upon. Then, we're going to do nothing about these people here who have been invited four times?” Manila 6th District Rep. Benny Abante said.

Zambales 1st District Rep. Jay Khonghun appealed to the officials.

“Sana po 'wag na nila pagtakpan ang vice president dahil nakikita naman po natin na marami po talagang iregularidad,” he said.

[Translation: I hope they do not cover up for the vice president because we can see that there are many irregularities.]

Poa not with OVP anymore

Meanwhile, Michael Poa said he is no longer connected with the OVP. He was the spokesperson and consultant of the office. His contract was supposed to end in December but was pre-terminated.

Poa said he found it difficult to respond to the media’s requests for comment given his conflicting roles.

“Nag-decide kami mutually [na pre-terminate] kasi nag-express po ako na hindi ko kayang i-fulfill 'yung obligations ng contract as a spokesperson because to be honest with you, since I'm also a resource person here, I found it very difficult for me to go on media and be interviewed on the same matter kasi nawawala 'yung objectivity,” he said.

[Translation: We decided to mutually pre-terminate the contract because I expressed that I cannot fulfil my obligations as a spokesperson because to be honest with you, since I'm also a resource person here, I found it very difficult for me to go on media and be interviewed on the same matter because the objectivity will be put to question.]

Poa said he believes Duterte understood his concerns.

Alleged irregularities

Lawmakers continued to scrutinize the OVP spending during the fourth hearing.

They pointed out that some of the acknowledgement receipts the OVP submitted to the Commission on Audit have typographical errors or have no date or names indicated.

1-Rider Party-list Rep. Rodge Rodriguez noted acknowledgement receipts dated 2023 but were submitted as supporting documents for 2022.

“Based on our study, 158 of the acknowledgement receipts have that typographical error. We would understand the typographical error if it happens once or twice and that most for one individual to make that mistake multiple times… These are different people signing off for different expenses,” he said.

Khonghun showed three acknowledgement receipts signed by one person for different purposes – payment for reward, for supplies purchase, and purchase of provision of medical and food aid.

“Ang galing-galing naman ng tao na iyon. Marami silang businesses na sobrang swak na kinakailangan ng Office of the Vice President, or baka pwede natin mas magandang katanungan is hindi ba kayo nagtataka kung bakit paulit-ulit ang pangalan?” Khonghun said.

[Translation: That person is cunning. They have several businesses that fit the needs of the Office of the Vice President. A better question is, aren't you baffled why the name is repeated?]