House Assistant Majority Leaders Jay Khonghun of Zambales’ 1st District and Paolo Ortega V of La Union’s 1st District on Sunday challenged Vice President Sara Duterte to cease her ‘budol’ theatrics and directly address the military officials’ vehement denial that she allocated P15 million from the Department of Education’s confidential funds for the Youth Leadership Summits (YLS) in 2023.
“Tama na ang pambubudol at pagpapalusot. Naghihintay ang publiko ng malinaw na sagot tungkol sa hindi mo ipinaliliwanag na paggamit ng confidential funds. Pumalag maging ang militar dahil pinalabas ninyong nakinabang rin sila sa pagpondo sa YLS kahit hindi,” Khonghun, chairman of the House Special Committee on Bases Conversion, asserted.
“Pakisagot, Madam VP Sara: Niloko mo ba ang militar o hindi? Mahalaga ring malaman ng publiko kung saan napunta ang P15 milyon na sinasabing ginamit ng DepEd para sa YLS sa ilalim ng iyong pamumuno, na mariing itinanggi ng militar,” Khonghun said.
“No amount of on-screen meltdowns can bury the issue of the alleged misuse of confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) under either the Office of the Vice President (OVP) or DepEd. The Filipino people demand answers,” Khonghun stressed.
Ortega, for his part, challenged the Vice President’s leadership style. “For VP Sara: given how you’re handling these allegations, now tell the people what kind of leader you are.”
“This is just the latest in a series of alleged misuse of public funds. Unfortunately, the Vice President has never addressed these issues directly and instead resorts to making outlandish statements. Puro sound bites, pero walang substance,” Ortega remarked.
“Patuloy na inililihis ang mga mahalagang isyung dapat sagutin sa mga kuwestiyunableng paggamit ng confidential funds sa pamamagitan ng panlilinlang at walang basehang paninira laban sa administrasyong Marcos. The Filipino people see through these diversionary tactics. They weren’t born yesterday. Pinagtatawanan ka na nila, Madam VP. Now it’s up to you—will you continue being a comedy act or be woman enough to confront these issues?” Khonghun added.
During the recent House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability hearing, it was revealed that DepEd falsely claimed to the Commission on Audit (COA) that it used P15 million of its CIFs in connection with eight YLS events in 2023.
However, military officers testified that the AFP and local government units (LGUs) shouldered most of the expenses for these summits, contradicting DepEd’s claim that its CIFs were used.
DepEd presented AFP certifications to justify the P15 million in CIFs, allegedly for paying informers, but resource persons refuted this during the hearing.
The four military officials testified that they would not have issued certifications for YLS had they known the DepEd under Duterte was using them to justify a P15-million payment from confidential funds allegedly allocated to pay informants.
The disclosure came during questioning by Bukidnon 2nd District Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores on retired Maj. Gen. Adonis Bajao, Lt. Col. Carlos Sangdaan Jr., and Colonels Manaros Boransing and Magtangol Panopio in the ongoing inquiry by the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability into the alleged misuse of public funds by the Office of the Vice President and DepEd under Duterte’s leadership.
Notably, the Vice President’s trusted aide, OVP spokesperson Michael Poa, admitted that Duterte had direct control over DepEd’s CIFs.
Vice President Duterte served as DepEd Secretary from June 30, 2022, to July 19, 2024.
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