Vice President Sara Duterte refuted allegations of hindering the House good government panel’s investigation into the alleged misuse of confidential funds by her office, attributing her staff’s nonattendance at hearings to preparations for the OVP’s anniversary and year-end activities.
Duterte defended approving travel orders for her staff that coincided with the inquiry, emphasizing there was “no malice” involved and framing the hearings as politically motivated. She made these remarks on November 11 during a press conference, hours after four senior OVP officials were cited for contempt and ordered to be detained for repeatedly skipping the hearings.
Cited in contempt were OVP officials Lemeul Ortonio, Gina Acosta, Sunshine Fajarda, and Edward Fajarda, who were mentioned in prior inquiries as being knowledgeable about the disbursement of the OVP’s confidential funds.
Duterte described the probe as an attempt to “destroy the dignity” of the OVP and its staff. She pointed out that various scheduled activities, including preparations in Panay, Negros Island, Cebu, the Caraga region, and Bukidnon, were responsible for the staff’s absence. She noted she would also be out of the central office from November 16 for similar engagements.
The panel’s fifth session saw Kelvin Gerome Teñido, the OVP’s budget office chief, confirm that some of the OVP’s confidential funds were used for non-security-related purposes. Lawmakers discovered that budget and accounting staff were excluded from knowledge about the spending of these funds. Former OVP Spokesperson Michael Poa had previously confirmed that only Duterte and Edward Fajarda had full details on the funds’ use.
Despite calls for her to appear, Duterte remains adamant about not attending the hearings unless on her terms. She dismissed speculation about a “Save the Queen” scheme to make her president and accused House Speaker Martin Romualdez of leveraging the investigation for political gain.
The House committee’s probe covers P500 million in confidential funds allocated to the OVP from late 2022 to the third quarter of 2023 and an additional P112.5 million during Duterte’s term as education secretary.
