THE House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability is considering the filing of plunder charges against Vice President Sara Duterte and other individuals, House Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. on Sunday said.
Gonzales said this is in connection with the P112.5-million confidential funds of the Department of Education for 2023 when Duterte was the DepEd secretary.
The House leader said Duterte could face a plunder suit if she fails to account for the DepEd’s secret fund spending.
Gonzales reiterated his appeal for VP Sara to give an explanation where the confidential funds were spent.
“It’s the people’s money, and we need to make sure that it was used rightly. If the Vice President, as DepEd’s head at the time, failed to account for how the money was spent, it is our duty to pursue whatever legal steps need to be done, including filing a plunder complaint, in order to protect the public’s interest,” said Gonzales.
During the October 17 hearing of the House panel headed by Manila 3rd district Rep. Joel Chua, Gonzales questioned DepEd Undersecretary for Finance Annalyn Sevilla regarding the disbursement of the confidential funds.
According to Sevilla, they had issued three checks — one each for the first, second and third quarters of 2023.
She said the checks were each worth P37.5 million.
Sevilla added that she had no knowledge about the use of the confidential funds.
Meanwhile, the Education official who encashed the checks was subpoenaed by the panel to determine whether the funds “were properly used or misappropriated.”
The Education department was allocated P150 million in confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) in 2023.
In a statement on September 2022, DepEd said they requested the fund to address sexual abuse, illegal drug use, and recruitment to extremist causes of Filipino students.