The House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability threatened four officials of the Office of Vice President (OVP) on Wednesday with potential criminal raps amid their continued defiance to attend its probe into the so-called misuse of funds of the office.
Despite a contempt order with a 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 who were subpoenaed for their repeatedly disobeying summons to attend the legislative inquiry despite show-cause orders.
Based on the documents submitted before the committee, the four are currently on local official travel, which lawmakers deemed as the same old excuse with no substantial proof given.
“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 said.
“Mr. Chair, they are fooling us,” Kabataan Representative Raoul Manuel chimed in.
Meantime, panel chairperson Joel Chua lamented that the constant 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 said.
He added that failure to heed a congressional subpoena “is subject to criminal sanctions under Article 150 of the Revised Penal Code,” which imposes a penalty of arresto mayor or a 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 centers on the 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 the sole authority in overseeing the P500 million in secret funds along with the VP.
To recall, 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 merely 11 days in December 2022.
State auditors had already ordered Duterte’s office to return the disallowed expenses, which were not used for surveillance and confidential operations as intended.
The committee will order the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation to execute the arrest orders and turn over the four officials to 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.