Former Department of Education (DepEd) Undersecretary Gloria Jumamil Mercado testified on September 25 that she and other DepEd employees received monthly cash envelopes during Vice President Sara Duterte’s tenure as DepEd Secretary. Mercado revealed this during a House inquiry into the alleged misuse of public funds at the department.
Mercado stated that she was handed envelopes containing P50,000 monthly by Duterte’s head executive assistant, Sunshine Fajarda, from February to September 2023. The envelopes were labeled “HoPE” (Head of Procuring Entity), and each time Fajarda told her it came from the vice president.
The total amount of the nine envelopes reached P450,000, which Mercado said she donated to a non-government organization upon discovering the cash after her retirement. She noted that these envelopes could have been an attempt to influence her decisions as the procurement head.
Mercado’s retirement, initially unplanned, came after she resisted suggestions to bypass standard procurement processes. She said she was ordered to resign in late October 2023, which she believes was connected to her opposition to these practices.
Meanwhile, VP Duterte denied the allegations, dismissing Mercado as a “disgruntled employee” and citing her for previous offenses that led to a loss of trust. Duterte also refuted claims of any irregularities in the department’s procurement process.
