House threatens no-show OVP execs with criminal raps

The House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability on Wednesday threatened four officials of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) with potential criminal charges amid their continued defiance in attending its probe into the so-called misuse of funds of the office.

Despite a contempt order with corresponding detention in the House, Lemuel Ortonio, Gina Acosta, and spouses Sunshine Charry and Edward Fajarda were still a no-show — for the sixth time — at the congressional hearing.

The four were among the initial seven OVP officials subpoenaed for repeatedly disobeying summons to attend the legislative inquiry, despite show-cause orders.

Based on documents submitted to the committee, the four are currently on local official travel, which lawmakers dismissed as the same old excuse without substantial proof.

“If their reason is that they have another errand on this day given that there is already a contempt order against them, I don't think that is a substantial reason for them not to attend our hearing,” Deputy Speaker David Suarez stressed.

"Mr. Chair, they are fooling us," Kabataan Rep. Raoul Manuel added.

Panel chairperson Joel Chua lamented that the continued defiance of the four goes against a Supreme Court ruling that attendance in a congressional hearing “is mandatory when one is summoned.”

“They are public officers, and under the law, they have the duty to attend congressional hearings,” Chua stated.

Failure to heed a congressional subpoena, he added, “is subject to criminal sanctions under Article 150 of the Revised Penal Code,” which imposes a penalty of arresto mayor or jail time of up to six months and a fine of up to P200,000.

“This is already our sixth hearing. They were given six times, six opportunities to attend. They didn't even attend a single hearing. So, regardless of their excuse, I don’t find it justifiable,” Chua said.

The inquiry focuses on alleged irregularities in the use of P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to the OVP (P500 million) and the Department of Education (P112.5 million) in 2022 and 2023 during Duterte’s stint as its secretary.

The four officials were accused of having sole authority in overseeing the P500 million in secret funds, along with the Vice President.

The Commission on Audit flagged a significant portion of the said funds, disallowing P73.287 million of the P125 million that the OVP spent in just 11 days in December 2022.

State auditors have ordered Duterte’s office to return the disallowed expenses, which were not used for surveillance and confidential operations as intended.

The committee will direct the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation to execute the arrest orders and place the four officials under the custody of the House of Representatives.

An immigration lookout bulletin will also be issued against the OVP officials to prevent them from fleeing the country and evading the investigation.