THE Department of Education (DepEd), then under Vice President Sara Duterte, submitted a routine Philippine Army certification to justify to state auditors the use of P15.54 million in confidential funds, but the document did nothing to prove how the money was spent, a House prosecution spokesman said Tuesday.
In a briefing at the sidelines of Day 20 of Duterte’s impeachment trial, Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong noted that the certification only confirmed that the Army’s 1st Infantry “Tabak” Division conducted eight Youth Leadership Summits and 53 information education campaign activities in 2023.
It did not mention any informer, document any reward payment or show that DepEd confidential funds were spent on those activities.
“Only one conclusion can be drawn from the testimony of Colonel (Manaros) Boransing: the AFP was duped,” the lawmaker said in Filipino, referring to the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Boransing testified before the Senate impeachment court that his certification issued Jan. 1, 2024 was a routine record of the division’s activities with other stakeholders. He said no DepEd funds were released or downloaded to his division for the events and that he only learned during an October 2024 House hearing that the agency had used the document in its response to an audit observation memo from the Commission on Audit (COA).
DepEd attached Army certifications to its April 17, 2024 response to COA Audit Observation Memorandum 2024-015, which sought documents supporting P15.54 million in rewards allegedly linked to successful information-gathering or surveillance.
“The certificate only proves that there was a summit that was conducted. It did not prove anything as to the utilization of confidential funds. It did not prove... that the reward was made during that event,” Adiong said.
Another military official, Col. Magtanggol Panopio, said he was taken by surprise when he was informed that certifications he issued to merely confirm the conduct of Army youth activities had been used to support the DepEd’s liquidation of P15.54 million in confidential fund rewards.
Panopio testified that he discovered the document’s use only when he appeared before a House inquiry into DepEd’s confidential intelligence funds in 2024 — not when he issued the certification dated Dec. 5, 2023.
“We learned about that when we appeared before Congress — when the congressional hearing regarding the Department of Education’s confidential and intelligence funds took place, your honor,” he said in Filipino.
“The certification is in compliance with the order of my commander to issue certifications to DepEd in coordination with then-undersecretary Nolasco Mempin,” he added.
Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre said using the certification as liquidation evidence could amount to misrepresentation because it did not establish that the office of the Secretary of Education directly spent funds on the Army activities.
“A certificate — which did not imply that the Office of the Secretary of Education had incurred a direct expense — was used as evidence for liquidation,” he said.
Acidre said the discrepancy warrants broader scrutiny of the confidential fund trail under Duterte.
“If there was even a single instance of misrepresentation by the Office of the Secretary of Education during Vice President Sara Duterte’s tenure regarding the liquidation of confidential funds, that raises even more questions,” he said.
Boransing, the former 1st Infantry Division senior civil-military operations staff officer, said he had no personal knowledge linking his certification to those alleged payments made from the DepEd’s confidential funds.
“I haven’t even read the COA document, sir,” he told the court.
He confirmed that then-DepEd undersecretary Nolasco Mempin requested the document by calling his division commander.
When Senator-Judge Bam Aquino asked Boransing what he thought about the DepEd spending P15 million in confidential funds for information gathering and surveillance linked to the youth summits, which only cost the Philippine Army about P30,000 to P60,000 per activity, Boransing declined to comment, citing his status as an active military officer.
“Well, sir, as an active member of the Armed Forces, I do not think I should react,” he said.”I think it is not appropriate for an active member of the Armed Forces to give his opinion on such a political issue.”
Defense spokesman to testify
Lawyer Michael Wesley Poa has temporarily stepped aside as spokesman of the vice president’s defense team and is now staying in the holding room for subpoenaed witnesses ahead of his expected testimony in the impeachment trial.
Lawyer Justin Nicol Gular, who served as the defense spokesman on Tuesday, said Poa is no longer staying in the defense holding room after the prosecution confirmed that it would present him as a witness.
Gular said he last spoke with Poa last week, when they were still sitting together with the defense panel, adding that they had no communication after Poa was disclosed as a possible witness.
Gular said the move is not permanent, with the defense still considering who could serve as its spokesman while Poa is on the witness stand.
Meanwhile, Senate impeachment court Presiding Officer Francis Escudero said photos circulating online showing Office of the Vice President (OVP) Assistant Secretary and Assistant Chief of Staff Lemuel Ortonio allegedly wearing an earpiece during the impeachment trial are AI-generated and “simply false.” During the resumption of the trial, Escudero said Ortonio was not wearing an earpiece while testifying before the Senate impeachment court last week.
“That was AI (artificial intelligence). What he had was a front-fold helix, an ear piercing in the front fold helix of his ear not an earpiece,” Escudero said.
Escudero cited Section 21 of the Supreme Court’s amended Guidelines on the Conduct of Videoconferencing, which prohibits the use of cell phones, tablets, and similar gadgets and materials to prevent coaching and disturbance.
The same guidelines classify coaching a witness and knowingly presenting falsified digital images or evidence as gross misconduct and direct contempt of court.
The presiding officer said that witnesses must testify solely from their own knowledge and without coaching or influence from counsel or any other person.
“No witness while testifying shall possess, have access to, or use any ear piece, cell phones, smartwatch, smart glasses, or any other similar device capable of transmitting or receiving information or communication,” Escudero said.
He said witnesses are also prohibited from receiving or attempting to receive any communication, suggestion, answer, signal, message, or prompt from any person whether inside or outside this court regardless of the means employed.
“The prohibition shall remain enforced during recesses and until the witness is formally discharged by the court,” he added.
Escudero also directed court personnel to secure prohibited communication devices from witnesses before they are sworn in and obtain their confirmation that they understand the rules. WITH JAVIER JOE ISMAEL AND PNA
