Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Office of the Vice President Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta is being rushed to the hospital after appearing before lawmakers at the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability hearing on November 25, 2024. Acosta will be taken to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Paige Javier

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/173285366050520241125-acosta-gina-hor-MT-2.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Office of the Vice President Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta is being rushed to the hospital after appearing before lawmakers at the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability hearing on November 25, 2024. Acosta will be taken to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News</span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability chairperson Rep. Joel Chua said on Friday they are planning to file measures next week related to the role of special disbursing officers (SDO) amid the panel&#x27;s investigation into Vice President Sara Duterte&#x27;s confidential fund utilization.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2024/11/28/house-grants-furlough-to-ovp-officer-gina-acosta-2313">House grants furlough to OVP officer Gina Acosta</a></div><p>In an interview on Teleradyo Serbisyo, the Manila 3rd District Representative said the &quot;pieces of legislation&quot; will be based on the information they gathered from the SDOs that attended previous hearings.</p><p>&quot;Ang pinakapurpose natin in aid of legislation. By next week, magpapasa na po kami o ififile na po namin ang pieces of legislation na nabuo namin sa hearing na ito. Yung sa akin dalawa, pero may mga suggestion pa po yung iba. Lahat po yan pag-uusapan namin next week,&quot; Chua said. </p><p>The Manila congressman said the two measures will focus on the role of SDOs.</p><p>&quot;Pahihigpitin po natin, para maging SDO ka, or Special Disbursing Officer, kailangan medyo mas hihigpitan natin yung requirements doon. Dahil nakikita po natin doon sa testimonya noong nakaraan, yung SDO binigay nalang po yung pera. Kusa na lamang po binigay eh talagang hindi dapat ganun,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;Yung pera po na pinag-uusapan hindi naman po nila personal, pera po ito ng taongbayan kaya kailangan po mahigpit po ang ating pag-aayos dito,&quot; Chua added. </p><p>During the previous hearing, Office of the Vice President  (OVO) SDO Gina Acosta and Department of Education SDO Edward Fajarda said they disbursed their agency&#x27;s confidential funds to their designated security officers. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2024/11/25/-wala-kaming-kakampi-dito-vp-duterte-feuds-with-lawmakers-who-jailed-her-top-aide-1422">&#x27;Wala kaming kakampi dito&#x27;: VP Duterte feuds with lawmakers who detained her top aide</a></div><p>Acosta said she gave P125 million to a certain Colonel Lachica, the head of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group. </p><p>Fajarda had a similar statement, saying he gave P112.5 million of DepEd&#x27;s confidential funds to Colonel Dennis Nolasco, the agency&#x27;s security officer. </p><p>Both Acosta and Fajarda said they did so upon the instruction of the Vice President. </p><p>Lawmakers questioned their moves since only the SDO has the responsibility to disburse confidential funds and the task cannot be delegated to another person.</p><p>Chua said the measure seeks to prevent these instances from happening again. </p><p>&quot;Yung SDO dapat medyo hihigpitan talaga natin. Para sa susunod, hindi na talaga nila pwede idahilan na utos ni ganito, ni ganito, may utos ni ganun,&quot; he said. </p><p>&quot;Papaano po niya babayaran? In the event naman po na ito ay nawala, kung sakali hindi ito ganun kalaki let&#x27;s say P100 million, papaano naman niya babayaran yun. Nakita naman po natin yung salary grade niya, mukhang wala siyang kapasidad na bayaran. Kahit yung buong bond o insurance ay ibigay doon, malaking kakulangan parin,&quot; Chua explained. </p><p>The Manila congressman reminded SDOs and other government officials to follow and remain true to their mandated duties, not their superiors. </p><p>&quot;Sa akin siguro ang pinakamaganda siguro diyan, unang-una alam naman po dapat nila yung utos po kapag ito ay unlawful, eh dapat po hindi naman nila sinusunod,&quot; he said. </p><p>The House panel on Thursday decided to postpone the hearing originally set for Friday to allow Vice President Sara Duterte to face the National Bureau of Investigation.</p><p>&quot;Mag-uusap usap po kami ng mga kasama kung kailangan pa yung kanilang testimony,&quot; Chua replied when asked if they still have hearings scheduled this year. </p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2024/11/29/vp-sara-duterte-asks-to-reschedule-nbi-probe-on-threat-vs-marcos-1036">VP Sara Duterte asks NBI to reschedule hearing on threat vs Marcos</a></div><p>Duterte did not show up at the NBI on Friday and sought a rescheduling of her appearance.</p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Vz8hzYgfxgE?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>The Manila congressman reminded SDOs and other government officials to follow and remain true to their mandated duties, not their superiors. </p>

The Manila congressman reminded SDOs and other government officials to follow and remain true to their mandated duties, not their superiors.

Lawmaker eyes tighter qualifications for Special Disbursing Officers

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Lawmaker eyes tighter qualifications for Special Disbursing Officers

Paige Javier,

ABS-CBN News

Published Nov 29, 2024 12:25 PM PHT

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