A member of the Young Guns bloc of the House of Representatives on Thursday issued a challenge to Vice President Sara Duterte to take a lie detector test following the explosive testimony of a former Department of Education official who revealed monthly bribes to education officials during the VP’s tenure as secretary.
Zambales Rep. Jay Khonghun dared VP Duterte to take a lie detector test alongside former Education Undersecretary Gloria Mercado, who earlier bared she had received envelopes containing P50,000 monthly, allegedly from the Vice President, while serving as the Head of the Procuring Entity (HOPE) at DepEd.
“Kung talagang sa puso ni VP Duterte eh feeling niya nagsasabi siya ng totoo, mag-lie detector test na lang silang dalawa ni USec Mercado, para magkaalaman kung sinong nagsasabi ng totoo. Hindi na kailangan pang mag-deny at manira sa presscon,” Khonghun expressed.
Mercado told members of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability in Wednesday’s hearing that she was pressured to resign from DepEd for expressing she wanted to abide by procurement laws as HOPE for the institution. She requested that she be allowed to retire, which was granted.
"Kung wala namang tinatago si VP Duterte, walang issue sa pag-take ng lie detector test. Mahalaga na malaman ng taumbayan kung sino ang nagsasabi ng totoo sa kanilang dalawa. Pondo ng bayan ang pinag-uusapan, and the Vice President owes it to the people to prove her honesty and integrity,” Khonghun said.
Mercado testified that she received nine envelopes between February 2023 and September 2023, each containing P50,000.
According to her, these envelopes were handed to her by Assistant Secretary Sunshine M. Fajarda, who claimed they came directly from Vice President Duterte.
Asked by Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro if the envelopes could have been an attempt to influence her decisions as the HOPE, Mercado responded, “It could be.”
Khonghun further highlighted that Mercado testified under oath before the committee, while Vice President Duterte has repeatedly refused to take an oath, raising questions about the veracity of her claims.
"Yung testimony ni USec Mercado, she made under oath. Si VP Duterte refused to take the oath. Kaya hindi mo maalis sa aming mga mambabatas ang magduda sa transparency ni VP Duterte. Kaya mas maganda, mag-lie detector test na lang siya,” he said.
Mercado recounted how she intended to return the envelopes during her exit call after retiring but was unable to do so. Instead, she donated the funds to a non-government organization, revealing the envelopes contained a total of P450,000.
"This goes to the heart of protecting our public institutions. Hindi na ito basta usapin lamang ng irregularidad. Usapin na ito ng integridad sa public service. Kung totoo ang sinasabi ni USec Mercado, hindi natin dapat pinapayagang mag-ugat ang ganitong kultura sa paglilingkod sa bayan,” Khonghun said.
“Dapat malaman ng taumbayan kung sino nga ba ang nagsasabi ng totoo sa kanilang dalawa. The Vice President should come clean, and she can only do that if she passes a lie detector test,” he added.
The House committee is currently investigating the alleged misuse of confidential funds and the procurement process at DepEd during the tenure of Vice President Duterte as DepEd secretary.
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