FORMER Education (DepEd) undersecretary, chief of staff and spokesperson Michael Poa revealed during Thursday’s congressional hearing that Vice President Sara Duterte, while serving as DepEd secretary, had direct control over the agency’s confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs).
Poa, who has been serving as the spokesperson for the Office of the Vice President since Duterte resigned from DepEd in July, clarified that the responsibility for managing CIFs rested with Duterte, distancing himself from direct involvement.
He explained that while he was tasked with responding to an audit observation memorandum issued by the Commission on Audit (COA), he had no role in the decision-making process for the CIFs.
“It would probably be the Secretary or the ones responsible for the confidential funds,” Poa said in response to a question from Bukidnon 2nd District Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores.
“The Secretary and the SDO are the only ones that are privy,” he added, referring to Duterte and DepEd’s Senior Disbursing Officer Edward Fajarda.
During the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability hearing, Poa was scrutinized for using certifications from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to justify DepEd’s spending of CIFs.
The certifications were related to the Youth Leadership Summits (YLS) conducted by the AFP in 2023.
However, Flores noted the inconsistency, pointing out that the AFP’s programs had no direct connection with DepEd’s confidential funds.
“You are using certifications from another agency, which didn’t spend a peso from your office, to justify your expenses. It’s confusing,” Flores said.
Poa admitted he was unaware that the AFP activities were unrelated to DepEd’s confidential funds when he submitted the documents to COA.
He clarified that the certifications were meant to show that DepEd had provided information to the AFP about vulnerable areas where seminars were needed, but conceded that this was not clearly connected to DepEd’s spending.
“It all boils down to the fact that you are using a certification of an activity of a different agency. It’s wrong, di ba?” Flores asked.
Poa acknowledged the confusion but reiterated that he followed the process based on the documents available to him.
“I got the certifications, I got the documents evidencing payment, the DEPs, which are the acknowledgment receipts, and I submitted to COA,” Poa explained.
When pressed on who had the final say on the use of the confidential funds, Poa pointed to Vice President Duterte and Fajarda.
Earlier in the hearing, all four military officers who conducted the YLS denied receiving any CIFs from DepEd, stating that the AFP and local government units shouldered most of the expenses for the summits.
Retired Maj. Gen. Adonis Bajao, Lt. Col. Carlos Sangdaan Jr., and Colonels Manaros Boransing and Magtangol Panopio told the committee that they were not informed the certifications they issued were used to justify P15 million in CIFs that were supposedly allocated to pay informers.
Vice President Duterte has defended the use of DepEd’s CIFs, claiming they were necessary for intelligence gathering to prevent insurgency and extremism in schools.
However, the hearing raised further questions about how these funds were managed and justified, leading to increased calls for transparency.
COA confirmed that the P15 million was part of a larger P75 million in CIFs flagged in a notice of disallowance, with the audit body requesting additional documentation to substantiate the expenditure.
