Certification, misrepresentation, deception

By Artchil B. Fernandez

Filipinos have long known that corrupt politicians steal public funds. How do these politicians do the trick? What hocus-pocus do they employ to make public funds magically disappear? How do these dirty magicians masquerading as filthy politicians make people’s money vanish into thin air?

The impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte continues to provide Filipinos with a glimpse of what is going on behind the scenes. The testimonies of two military officers this week offer interesting insight into how the “miracle” of financial transubstantiation occurs.

Col. Manaros Boransing II and Col. Magtanggol Panopio were called to the witness stand this week to unravel and untie the web of liquidation intricacies spun by the Department of Education (DepEd), then headed by Sara Duterte as secretary. The subject of contention is the PHP 15.54 million confidential fund of DepEd flagged by the Commission on Audit (COA). The amount was the focus of a COA Audit Observation Memorandum, or AOM, whose utilization is under question.

The 7th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army conducted two anti-insurgency programs in 2023 — the Youth Leadership Summit (YLS) and the Information Education Communication (IEC) campaign. These activities involved several government agencies, including local government units (LGUs) and DepEd.

Under questioning, Col. Boransing II admitted that the money used for the activities came from Philippine Army funds. He further testified that, as far as he knew, no DepEd funds were used. After the activities were completed, then-DepEd Undersecretary Nolasco Mempin approached him to ask for certification on the conduct of the activities. Since DepEd was among the agencies that took part in the activities, the Army gladly obliged Mempin.

To the surprise of Col. Magtanggol Panopio, the certification issued by the Army was presented during the Oct. 17, 2024, hearing of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability as justification for the use of DepEd’s PHP 15.54 million confidential fund when Sara Duterte was secretary. The certification was used as part of the liquidation documents for the amount submitted by DepEd to COA.

Asked to explain why he was stunned when he saw that the certification was used as liquidation for the PHP 15.54 million, Panopio gave this explanation: “Because our certification is only for the certification that we conducted the Youth Leadership Summit. We were not certifying anything about money or funds, Your Honor,” Panopio told the impeachment court.

The testimony of Col. Magtanggol Panopio is supported by Col. Manaros Boransing II, who also insisted that not a single centavo from the confidential fund of Sara Duterte as DepEd secretary was used in the Youth Leadership Summit (YLS) and the Information Education Communication (IEC) campaign. “There was no funding released to the 1st Infantry Division from DepEd, sir, of any source,” Boransing said when pressed by the impeachment court. Asked if the Office of the Vice President (OVP) could have been the source of funding instead of DepEd, Boransing II answered in the negative. “For 2023 sir, there were no funds from other government agencies released to 1st Infantry Tabak Division, sir,” according to Boransing.

The testimonies of the two Army officers show the deception allegedly employed to justify the spending of Sara Duterte’s confidential fund as then-DepEd secretary. The Army conducted activities using its own funds, with other government agencies, including DepEd, participating. A certification was issued to the partners indicating that they took part in the activities. DepEd, however, used the certification to liquidate the spending of the PHP 15.54 million confidential fund.

The use of the certification as liquidation is not just plain misrepresentation but clear deception. Can certification serve as liquidation? It cannot. Certification is not evidence of the proper use of government funds, for it merely indicates that an activity took place. Liquidation is an entirely different matter. It is evidence of the actual spending of funds. Official receipts are among the most common examples of liquidation documents.

A government employee who uses government funds for official business, for example, cannot use a certificate of appearance as proof that government funds were properly used. The employee must show travel tickets, official receipts for meals, and receipts for other allowable expenses. To liquidate the expenses, the employee must submit the official receipts covering the use of the funds. A certificate of appearance indicates presence at an activity, not evidence that the funds were properly used.

It is not surprising that COA flagged the utilization of DepEd’s PHP 15.54 million confidential fund. A certification is no substitute for official receipts. Worse, submitting certification as liquidation is deception.

But the deeper question is not about deception through the misrepresentation of certification as liquidation. The bigger mystery is: Where did the PHP 15.54 million go? The two Army officers testified that there was no transfer of funds to their unit from either DepEd or the OVP. DepEd already told COA that the money was used for Army activities, which, according to the testimonies of the two Army colonels, was not the case. The liquidation document, albeit allegedly a misrepresentation and deception, submitted to COA is an admission that the money was utilized. For what or for whom remains a mystery that has to be unraveled.

The nation is still in the dark about what happened to DepEd’s PHP 15.54 million confidential fund. It vanished without a trace. The Army said it did not receive the amount. Its certification was about the fact that the activities took place and had nothing to do with the transfer of funds. Again, here is glaring evidence that public funds were abused and misused.