NABUKO ang ginawa umanong paggamit ng Department of Education (DepEd) sa ilalim ng pamumuno ni Vice President Sara Duterte ng sertipikasyon mula sa Armed Forces of the Philippines upang mabigyang-katwiran ang paggamit nito ng confidential fund kahit na wala namang ibinababang pondo sa kanila.

Ito ang lumabas sa pagdinig ng House committee on good government and public accountability nang talakayin ang P15 milyong halaga ng confidential fund na ginamit na pambayad ng mga impormante.

Inusisa ni Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro ang mga opisyal at retiradong opisyal ng AFP kaugnay ng inilabas nitong sertipikasyon na ginamit ng DepEd sa liquidation ng P15 milyong confidential fund nito.

Ayon kina retired Maj. Gen. Adonis Bajao, Lt. Col. Carlos Sangdaan Jr., at Colonels Manaros Boransing at Magtangol Panopio ang sertipikasyon ay kaugnay ng Youth Leadership Summits (YLS) na isinagawa noong 2023.

Itinanggi ng apat na nakatanggap sila ng pondo mula sa DepEd para sa YLS. Kinumpirma naman ito ni retired Gen. Nolasco Mempin na noon ay isang DepEd Undersecretary.

“I was asked by the Office of the Secretary to ask for the certification coming from these units, but it is clear to them or even to me that no funds are involved, meaning no funds are released to these units. What the Office of the Secretary just wanted to know is the product or the result of the collaboration of various stakeholders including DepEd, with regards to our youth, so it is clear that DepEd has not released any single centavo to the conduct of YLS,” sabi ni Mempin.

“If you are saying General Mempin that no DepEd funds were used for the Youth Leadership Summits, where did you spend the P15 million?” tanong ni Luistro.

“Your Honor, Mr. Chair, I was not aware of it because the task given to me is just to coordinate because to be candid about it, the commanders of Col. Boransing, Col. Panopio, and Lt. Col. Sangdaan are my former colleagues or classmates in the Philippine Military Academy,” ani Mempin.

Upang maging malinaw, tinanong muli ni Luistro si Mempin kung walang inilipat na pera ang DepEd papunta sa AFP para sa YSL, sinabi nito na wala.

Ayon kay Mempin hindi rin nito alam na gagamitin ang mga sertipikasyon para patunayan ang pagbabayad sa mga impormante.

Sinabi naman ni Boransing na ang YLS ay ginagastusan ng Philippine Army at mga lokal na pamahalaan.

“For our participants, we used the Philippine Army fund, and the LGUs used their funds for the youth,” sabi ni Boransing.

“We all closely monitor the program of the Youth Leadership Summit to ensure that it is multi-stakeholder and it fits the objectives of the program. So we have personal knowledge, we can go around in each barangay, but they have — since they use the budget from the Philippine Army, we have after-activity reports, fund utilization reports, pictures and documentations,” dagdag pa ni Boransing.

“You mentioned earlier Col. Boransing, you are using the fund of the Philippine Army. You confirm that? Are you sure? […] For the eight YLS, that were conducted, you used the fund of the Philippine Army,” tanong naman ni Luistro.

“Yes Mr. Chair […] For our participants we used the Philippine Army, the 40 students they used the local government unit funds, Mr. Chair,” sagot ni Boransing.

Iginiit ni Luistro ang pagkakaiba ng sertipikasyong isinumite ng DepEd at ang pahayag ng mga opisyal ng sundalo.

“If no DepEd funds were released for the [YLS], where was the P15 million spent?” tanong ni Luistro.

Kinumpirma naman ni COA representative Atty. Gloria Camora na ang P15 milyon ay bahagi ng P75 milyong confidential fund na nilabasan ng COA ng notice of disallowance dahil sa kakulangan ng mga dokumento na makapagpapatunay ng ginawang paggastos.

“Let us all be reminded na ito pong confidential fund na ito pera ng taumbayan, all of us are accountable to the Filipino citizens,” sabi ni Luistro. “Public office is a public trust. We should be accountable to the people at all times.”

Dagdag pa nito: “Without the knowledge of [PA], the certifications were issued to DepEd to be able to justify the P15 million that was used allegedly for the payment of rewards. To this point, Mr. Chair, we’re not even sure if that money was indeed paid as rewards to the informers.”

Sa nakaraang pagdinig, inusisa ni Surigao del Sur 2nd District Rep. Johnny Pimentel ang paggamit ng P112.5 milyong confidential fund para sa seminar lalo at kokonti lamang ang lumahok dito.

Lumabas sa pagdnig na ang special disbursing officer ng DepEd na si Edward Fajarda ang responsable sa P75 milyong cash advance mula sa confidential fund.

Ang sertipikasyon mula sa mga sundalo ang ginamit upang mabigyang-katwiran ang paggastos nito.