PSA: 405 of 677 OVP fund recipients ‘non-existent’
Credit to Author: Delon Porcalla| Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0800
MANILA, Philippines — Out of the reported 677 recipients of confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, 405 have turned out to be spurious, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said in its report to the committee on good government and public accountability of the House of Representatives.
Committee chairman Manila Rep. Joel Chua revealed the information yesterday in his opening remarks at the resumption of the hearing on the confidential fund issue. He said the information was drawn from an omnibus certification requested by his committee from National Statistician Dennis Mapa.
Based on the PSA document, there are no records of birth, marriage or death that matched the names in the acknowledgment receipts for disbursements of confidential funds of the OVP and DepEd. Vice President Sara Duterte was DepEd chief until July this year. She resigned after a falling out with President Marcos.
Marizza Grande, assistant national statistician, confirmed the certification.
“Based on the list, we have verified that 60 percent came out with a negative result in our records, our database,” she said in Filipino during an interview with “Storycon” on One News.
The PSA official, however, clarified that “the absence of the civil registry record cannot be a conclusive proof of the individual’s non-existence.”
“It is not conclusive proof or evidence that these people do not exist,” she said. “There are cases when the birth certificate of an individual is not registered or we do not have the additional information needed for the verification.”
Militant lawmakers from the three-member Makabayan bloc expressed vindication from the PSA certification, saying this would strengthen the impeachment cases against Duterte, particularly for betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the 1987 Constitution.
“The shocking revelation that 405 out of 677 alleged DepEd confidential fund beneficiaries…. validates our position that public funds were systematically misused through fraudulent documentation,” the bloc said in a statement.
Reps. France Castro of ACT Teachers, Arlene Brosas of women’s group Gabriela and Raoul Manuel of party-list Kabataan said the PSA certification is also proof of Duterte’s “fabrication of reports and documents.”
“The existence of ghost recipients is a clear indication of large-scale fraud. This is not just mismanagement – this is systematic corruption of public funds,” Brosas said.
Earlier, the PSA told the committee that it has no records of birth, death or marriage of Mary Grace Piattos and Kokoy Villamin, who reportedly received financial rewards as informants from the OVP and DepEd.
Also yesterday, more names emerged as among the thousands appearing in acknowledgement receipts (ARs) issued notice of disallowance by the Commission on Audit.
“We have repeatedly been scammed by the thousands of ARs that have been forged,” Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said, calling it a “systematic and deliberate scam” involving “bogus” ARs.
The Lanao del Sur 1st District congressman also disclosed the emergence of new fabricated names, including “Milky Secuya,” “Alice Crescencio,” “Sally” and “Shiela.”
He accused the OVP and DepEd under Duterte of manufacturing almost 5,000 ARs to cover up what he called a systematic misuse of public funds.
Adiong described how P125 million in confidential funds allocated to the OVP for December 2022 were backed by receipts containing questionable details.
Among the fabricated names, “Milky Secuya” signed two ARs on the same day with the same pen and ink, yet with entirely different signatures.
Similarly, “Alice Crescencio” appeared on three separate receipts allegedly issued in Pasay City, Iligan City and Lanao del Sur – locations that are geographically impossible to visit simultaneously.
“This particular name is not an ordinary one, and the chances of three different ‘Alice Crescencios,’ all receiving confidential funds for different purposes from the DepEd, is extremely slim,” Adiong said, as he dismissed any claim of coincidence.
He also flagged the names Sally and Shiela, whose receipts featured identical signatures despite supposedly belonging to two individuals from cities over 400 kilometers apart.
“It makes you think: what are the chances that two different people, from Digos City and Surigao City, have the exact same signature?”
Also yesterday, Adiong, Reps. Romeo Acop (Antipolo City), Gerville Luistro (Batangas), Rodge Gutierrez (1Rider party-list), Jil Bongalon (Ako Bicol) and Johnny Pimentel (Surigao del Norte) recommended charges of plunder, technical malversation, bribery, corruption and falsification of public documents against the Vice President and her staff.
“Let me remind the public of what is at stake here: it would constitute graft and corruption if public funds are misused or misappropriated or worse, if funds are diverted to personal use or benefit. And given the amount we are talking about here, this is clearly plunder,” Acop said.
The retired police general made the conclusion based on questionable receipts issued by the OVP and DepEd.
The committee, headed by Chua, discovered that confidential funds allocated to the OVP and DepEd were disbursed in a manner that directly violated the stringent Commission on Audit-Department of Budget and Management Joint Circular 2015-01.
Gutierrez, one of the leaders of the so-called Young Guns in the House, said this cannot be ignored.
“Throughout the course of seven hearings, we have brought detail to some long-held suspicions: the confidential funds of the OVP and DepEd had been abused, or malversed, or perhaps even taken,” he said.
“By abused, I mean that the relevant officers of the OVP and the DepEd took advantage of gaps in, and in fact violated, the Joint Circular. This is unconscionable and unfathomable because this is taxpayers’ money that we are talking about here,” Gutierrez pointed out.
“And unless we are aware of these gaps and violations, the legal regime cannot and will not change for the better,” he said, noting that Duterte and her staff may have made “deliberate attempt to obscure the use of funds.” — Janvic Mateo