Vice President Sara Duterte had sole control of the confidential funds of the Department of Education (DepEd) during her stint as its secretary, former undersecretary Michael Poa told a House panel on Thursday.

Poa said that while his job had entailed responding to an audit observation memorandum issued by the Commission on Audit, he had no role in the decision-making process related to the funds.

The DepEd was allocated P150 million in confidential funds in the 2023 national budget, in Duterte’s first full year in office.

DepEd Undersecretary for Finance Annalyn Sevilla explained that the fund was not included in the initial budget proposal the DepEd submitted to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) in May 2022.

However, when the DBM submitted the 2023 National Expenditure Program to Congress, she said a line item for confidential expenses suddenly appeared. It was also the first time the DepEd had a confidential fund, according to Sevilla.

“It would probably be the secretary or the ones responsible for the confidential funds. The secretary and the SDO (schools division office) are the only ones who are privy to this,” said Poa in response to lawmakers’ pressing queries on how the DepEd utilized its multi-million-peso secret fund.

Put to bad use?

An audit observation memorandum revealed that of the P112.5 million in confidential expenses of the DepEd, P15.54 million was disallowed by the auditing body due to the lack of supporting documents that showed the funds were spent on “rewards to informers.”

Three Philippine Army commanders — Lt. Col. Manaros M. Boransing II, Lt. Col. Magtango Panopioand and Lt. Col. Carlos Sangdaan Jr. — confirmed that they issued certifications to the DepEd for the Youth Leadership Summits (YLS) in 2023.

The DepEd, however, reportedly used these certifications for a different purpose — to justify the P15.54-million expense for rewards to informants.

Boransing asserted they would not have issued the certifications to the DepEd had they known they would be used to justify expenses that were not made by their office.

The military officials made it clear the certifications were only for the YLS activities and not to authorize any financial transactions related to informants.

They likewise denied receiving any funds from DepEd, stressing the AFP and local government units shouldered most of the expenses for the summit.

Duterte headed the DepEd for nearly two years until she resigned last 19 June.

The VP, who has been at the center of a congressional probe for purported irregularities in the funds of her office and the DepEd, has repeatedly denied mismanaging the budgets.

She said the probe was aimed at “discrediting” her ahead of the 2028 election and the House leadership planned to use its findings to make a case for her impeachment.

House leaders categorically denied Duterte’s allegation.