Sara Duterte takes oath to tell the truth during OVP fund probe

MANILA, Philippines — After six hearings and five contempt orders issued against her staff, Vice President Sara Duterte finally took an oath to tell the truth during the House Good Government Committee’s investigation into the alleged use misuse of his office funds.

During the committee’s seventh hearing held on Monday, Duterte asked for recognition to address issues she deemed urgent.

Committee chairman and Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua said they would only recognize Duterte if she took the oath of office, which she did.

Duterte attended only one of the panel’s six previous hearings, with the first hearing taking place last September 18. The vice president, however, was eventually excused after refusing to take the oath, saying that the administration of the oath was reserved for witnesses only.

Chua further said that resource persons are considered witnesses during investigations carried out for the benefit of the legislation.

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READ: Vice President Sara Duterte refuses to take oath during House of Representatives hearing

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Duterte said his time was wasted during the first hearing because no questions were asked. Chua reminded the vice president that she was not questioned because she had not taken the oath of office.

READ: Chua to Sara: You were not summoned to the hearing because you did not take an oath

Duterte showed up at Monday’s hearing at 11:56 a.m., saying she wanted to accompany staff from the Office of the Vice President (OVP) who appeared before the hearing.

“Kailangan kong samahan sa House hear ‘yung mga OVP personnel na nandoon,” she said.

(I have to accompany OVP staff present at the House hearing.)

The committee secretariat confirmed that the following ÖVP officials were inside the hearing room:

• Deputy Secretary Lemuel Ortonio – Deputy Chief of Staff and Chairman of the Nominations and Awards Committee
• Gina Acosta – Special Disbursement Officer (SDO)
• Sunshine Fajarda – former Deputy Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd)
• Edward Fajarda – former DepEd official

READ: Four OVP leaders cited for contempt appear at House hearing

Last November 11, the four OVP officials were cited for contempt of the motion of Antipolo 2nd District Representative Romeo Acop for their “continued defiance” of the invitations and summons issued against them.

READ: OVP leaders who ignored House investigation cited for contempt, ordered arrested

Their presence is considered critical to the commission’s investigation, as lawmakers said they believed all four would be able to shed light on issues with acknowledgments of receipt (ARs) for fund spending confidential (CF) carried out by the OVP and the DepEd.

Previously, the committee had discovered issues regarding RAs, such as cases where the CF was received by the same person but the signatures were different.

Before that, the ÖVP had also been questioned for problems concerning its ARs. During the hearing before the commission on November 5, Acop pointed out that several of the ARs were signed by a certain Mary Grace Piattos, who according to him has a first name similar to that of a café, while her name was family is that of a famous brand of chips.