Before the meltdown: Trail of massive corruption during Sara Duterte’s short term as DepEd Secretary

VICE PRESIDENT Sara Duterte’s midnight press conference on November 23 was only the tip of outrageous conduct.  She has so far refused to yield and cooperate with the House inquiry into her use of confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Office of the Secretary Department of Education (DepEd).

But the drama of her fury seems misplaced as the Vice President has a lot of explaining to do.  

The House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability which started its probe on September 18 has so far discovered two blatant anomalies in the records of confidential funds of Vice President’s office from 2022 to 2023. Media reports made public the distribution of cash-filled envelopes to DepEd officials and obviously fabricated receipts of official expenses. Reported on the day of the hearings, reporters have so far failed to follow up on the issue. Journalists have not pressed the second highest official of the land to explain questionable use of public funds and has allowed the story to fall out of the news cycle. 

Cash-filled envelopes

On September 25, former DepEd Undersecretary Gloria Mercado presented to the committee the nine envelopes she said she received from Duterte from February to September 2023. According to Mercado, the envelopes were given through former DepEd Assistant Secretary Sunshine Fajarda and contained PHP50,000 each to possibly influence her decisions. 

DepEd Director Resty Osias, who served as chairman of the Bids and Awards Committee, said on October 17 that he also received cash-filled envelopes four times from Duterte from April to September 2023. Envelopes were also given through Fajarda and contained PHP12,000 to PHP15,000.

‘Fabricated’ receipts

On November 5, the House committee flagged “fabricated” acknowledgment receipts showing the record of expenses of Duterte’s confidential funds, citing the use of identical ink, incorrect dates, and the names of apparently non-existent persons. 

According to Rodge Gutierrez, 1-Rider Party-list Representative, incorrect dates were found on around 158 acknowledgement receipts. Documents that should have been dated December 2022 were dated December 2023. Gutierrez said more records showed up this same error.

The probe also revealed the names of persons who allegedly received part of the confidential funds, such as Mary Grace Piattos, Fernando Tempura, Reymunda Jane Nova, and Carlos Miguel Oishi—clearly fictitious persons as the names were picked up from well-known food products. 

The choice of recipient names suggest that those engaged in the practice were confident that their actions would never be discovered or revealed.   Using brand names of junk food as names of recipients flaunted their confidence in the secrecy of the plot.

Perhaps, it is the same confidence that also made them careless, leaving clues elsewhere that eventually drew the attention to their secret actions. A lesson and a warning for those who think those in high positions are not subjected to review and investigation. 

The House Committee may have more to discover, which should keep them focused on the probe. The betrayal of trust in high office must be seen for its utter lack of shame.

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