OVER 1,900 NAMES RECEIVED OVP’S CONFIDENTIAL FUND, 405 NONEXISTENT

More than half of the 677 supposed recipients of millions of pesos in confidential funds from the OVP and DepEd during the tenure of VP Duterte have no proof of their birth (Photo courtesy of Rappler)

At least 1,992 individuals have received the confidential fund from the Office of Vice President (OVP) from December 2022 to September 2023 according to a lawmaker, and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is looking into the identities of the recipients.

“Under the OVP, if I’m not mistaken, there are 2,000 names but I’m not sure and will double-check. But since the OVP’s CF budget is P500 million, there were many names,” Manila Rep. Joel Chua said. 

The names found on the acknowledgment receipts (ARs) for confidential fund (CF) expenditures of the OVP was submitted by the House of Representatives, requesting for the verification of the Civil Registry Documents (birth, marriage, and death) of the names.

The PSA reported that at least 405 individuals who received confidential funds from Department of Education (DepEd), during the stint of Vice President Sara Duterte as secretary, have no birth record.

Chua said the absence of birth record of these 405 individuals makes the OVP liquidation suspicious at the very least. “A certification that these names are not in the PSA database would bolster suspicions that they do not exist and that the ARs (acknowledgement receipts) were fabricated to justify confidential fund expenditures by the OVP and DepEd under Vice President Duterte.”

Marizza Grande, assistant national statistician, confirmed that 60 percent came out with a negative result in PSA’s records and database. But its said that, “absence of the civil registry record cannot be a conclusive proof of the individual’s non-existence.”

“It is not conclusive proof or evidence that these people do not exist. There are cases when the birth certificate of an individual is not registered or we do not have the additional information needed for the verification,” she said. 

Earlier, the PSA told the committee that it has no records of birth, death or marriage of Mary Grace Piattos and Kokoy Villamin, who reportedly received financial rewards as informants from the OVP and DepEd.

Several lawmakers questioned how P125 million in confidential funds allocated to the OVP for December 2022 were backed by receipts containing suspicious details. Saying the the ARs were likely fabricated and hastily submitted to the CoA to justify the spending of the confidential funds.

Chua said lawmakers eyed filing bills to limit confidential funds to agencies mandated with intelligence gathering and security. They also wanted to tighten requirements for special disbursing officers (SDO) in charge of confidential funds.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer

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