405 OF 677 OVP CONFIDENTIAL FUND RECIPIENTS NO PSA RECORDS – REP. CHUA

MANILA 3^rd district Rep. Joel Chua, chairman of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, on Monday revealed that 405 out of 677 individuals listed as alleged beneficiaries of the Department of Education’s (DepEd) confidential funds during Vice President Sara Duterte’s term as its secretary have no birth records with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Chua issued the findings during the committee hearing on Monday.

“Tayo po ay sumulat upang isumite ang 677 pang pangalan na nakalagay sa acknowledgement receipt ng DepEd, kung saan tayo po ay binigyan ng tugon ng Philippine Statistics Authority dated Dec. 8, 2024. At dito kanila pong sinasabi na out of 677 individuals, 405 ay walang birth certificate or walang records sa birth certificate, or puwede nating sabihin na non-existent,” the Manila solon said.

Last December 5, Chua wrote a letter asking PSA Undersecretary Claire Dennis Mapa to authenticate the birth, marriage, and death records of 677 individuals appearing in DepEd’s acknowledgment receipts (ARs).

PSA verification also showed no civil registry records for confidential fund recipients “Kokoy Villamin,” Milky Secuya,” and “Alice Crescencio.”

The PSA earlier confirmed that “Mary Grace Piattos,” another alleged recipient, is a fictitious identity.

Lawmakers said Piattos’ name combines a popular restaurant and a local snack brand.

According to the panel chairman, the term confidential had been used to obscure the truth and evade accountability.

From late 2022 to the third quarter of 2023, the Office of the Vice President (OVP) spent P500 million and the DepEd disbursed P112.5 million in confidential funds.

The committee also found that the expenditures lacked transparency and proper documentation.

House Assistant Majority Leader and Lanao del Sur 1^st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong accused the OVP and the DepEd of creating nearly 5,000 acknowledgment receipts to obscure what he called a systematic misuse of public funds.

Adiong cited as an example DepEd receipts for secret funds that were received by three “Alice Crescencios” in geographically distant locations – Pasay City, Iligan City, and Lanao del Sur. 

He said that like Villamin, there are three different Crescencio signatures in the receipts.

“Itong pangalan po na ito ay hindi pangkaraniwan, and the chances of three different Alice Crescencios, all receiving confidential funds for different purposes from the DepEd, is extremely slim,” Adiong said.

He added that other receipts bearing the names “Sally” and “Shiela”  have identical signatures.

To prevent similar abuses, the committee proposed two laws – the Confidential and Intelligence Funds Act and the Act Regulating Special Disbursing Officers and Imposing Penalties for Misappropriation.

Solons said the first measure mandates stricter rules on the allocation and use of confidential funds, requiring detailed reports under oath.

The second proposal seeks to strengthen safeguards for public funds by revising fidelity bond requirements and imposing harsher penalties for violations.

“Hihigpitan na po natin ang requirements sa pagkuha ng SDOs (special disburing officers). Dapat may background sa finance, auditing at accounting at dapat ay regular employee, hindi kung sinu-sino lang ang ilalagay,” Chua told a television interview.