Lumabas sa pinahuling pagdinig ng House committee on good government and public accountability na ginamit ng Department of Education (DepEd) sa ilalim ng nakaraang pamunuan nito ang sertipikasyon mula sa Armed Forces of the Philippines upang mabigyang-katwiran ang paggamit ng confidential fund kahit na wala namang ibinababang pondo sa kanila.
Sa interpelasyon ni Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro itinanggi ng apat na aktibo at retiradong opisyal ng AFP na nakatanggap sila ng pondo para sa Youth Leadership Summit.
Lumalabas kasi ginamit ng DepEd sa liquidation ng P15 milyong confidential nito ang sertipikasyon mula AFP.
Kinumpirma naman ito ni retired Gen. Nolasco Mempin na noon ay isang DepEd Undersecretary.
“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,” sabi ni Mempin.
Aniya hindi niya alam kung saan ginamit ang P15 million dahil tanging atas lang sa kaniya ay kumuha ng sertipikasyon sa AFP.
Hindi rin aniya niya alam na gagamitin ang mga sertipikasyon para patunayan ang pagbabayad sa mga impormante.
“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 ,” ani Mempin.
Sinabi naman ni Colonel Manaros Boransing na ang YLS ay ginagastusan ng Philippine Army at mga lokal na pamahalaan.
“For our participants, we used the Philippine Army fund, and the LGUs used their funds for the youth,” sabi ni Boransing.
“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 pa ni Boransing.
Kinumpirma naman ni COA representative Atty. Gloria Camora na ang P15 milyon na ginamit sa YLS ay bahagi ng P75 milyong confidential fund na nilabasan ng COA ng notice of disallowance dahil sa kakulangan ng mga dokumento na makapagpapatunay ng ginawang paggastos. | ulat ni Kathleen Forbes
