.. 
NI ROMEO ALLAN BUTUIYAN II
INIHAYAG ng mga opisyal ng Philippine Army (PA) na walang silang natanggap na milyones na pera, partikular mula sa confidential fund ng Department of Education (DepEd) sa panahon ng panunungkulan ni Vice President Sara Duterte para sa pagsasagawa ng mga Youth Leadership Summit (YLS) noong nakaraang taon.
Sa pagdinig ng House committee on good government and public accountability, nabisto ang ginawang paggamit ng DepEd sa mga sertipikasyon mula sa Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) para sa liquidation ng nasa P15-million confidential funds na inilaan sa naturang ahensya.
Inusisa ni Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro ang mga opisyal at retiradong opisyal ng AFP kaugnay ng inilabas na sertipikasyon na ginamit ng DepEd sa liquidation sa naubos na pondo.
Ayon kina retired Maj. Gen. Adonis Bajao, Lt. Col. Carlos Sangdaan Jr., at Colonels Manaros Boransing at Magtanggol Panopio, ang sertipikasyon ay kaugnay ng Youth Leadership Summits (YLS) na isinagawa noong 2023.
Itinanggi ng apat na nakatanggap sila ng pondo mula sa DepEd para sa YLS – bagay na kinumpirma ni dating DepEd Undersecretary retired Gen. Nolasco Mempin.
“I was asked by the Office of the Secretary to ask for the certification coming from these units, but it is clear to them or even to me that no funds are involved, meaning no funds are released to these units. What the Office of the Secretary just wanted to know is the product or the result of the collaboration of various stakeholders including DepEd, with regards to our youth, so it is clear that DepEd has not released any single centavo to the conduct of YLS,” salaysay ni Mempin.
“If you are telling General Mempin that no DepEd funds were used for the Youth Leadership Summits, where did you spend the P15 million?” tanong ni Luistro.
“Your Honor, Mr. Chair, I was not aware of it because the task given to me is just to coordinate because to be candid about it, the commanders of Col. Boransing, Col. Panopio, and Lt. Col. Sangdaan are my former colleagues or classmates in the Philippine Military Academy,” sagot naman ng dating DepEd official.
Ayon naman kay Boransing, karaniwang ginagastusan ng Philippine Army at mga lokal na pamahalaan ang YLS.
“For our participants, we used the Philippine Army fund, and the LGUs used their funds for the youth,” ayon pa sa Army officer.
“We all closely monitor the program of the Youth Leadership Summit to ensure that it is multi-stakeholder and it fits the objectives of the program. So we have personal knowledge, we can go around in each barangay, but they have — since they use the budget from the Philippine Army, we have after-activity reports, fund utilization reports, pictures and documentations,” dagdag ni Boransing.
Bunsod nito, iginiit ni Luistro ang pagkakaiba ng sertipikasyong isinumite ng DepEd at ang pahayag ng mga opisyal ng sundalo.
“If no DepEd funds were released for the [YLS], where was the P15 million spent?” tanong ng lady solon.
Kinumpirma naman ni COA representative Atty. Gloria Camora na ang P15 milyon ay bahagi ng P75 milyong confidential fund na nilabasan ng COA ng notice of disallowance dahil sa kakulangan ng mga dokumentong patunay ng paggastos.
“Let us all be reminded na ito pong confidential fund na ito pera ng taumbayan, all of us are accountable to the Filipino citizens. Public office is a public trust. We should be accountable to the people at all times.” diin ng kinatawan ng Batangas.
Matatandaan na unang sinilip ni Surigao del Sur 2nd District Rep. Johnny Pimentel ang paggamit ng P112.5 milyong confidential fund para sa seminar na dinaluhan ng limitadong bilang ng mga delegado.
Lumabas din sa pagdinig na ang special disbursing officer ng DepEd na si Edward Fajarda ang responsable sa P75 milyong cash advance mula sa confidential fund.
Ang sertipikasyon mula sa mga sundalo ang ginamit upang bigyang-katwiran ang paggastos ng ahensya.
