The House Blue Ribbon Committee granted furlough to the four Office of the Vice President (OVP) officials who were previously cited in contempt on Monday, November 25.
Abang Lingkod Party-list Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano motioned for the four officials to be granted furlough, citing their voluntary appearance at the House Committee hearing on Monday.
“May I move Mr. Chair to grant Mr. Lemuel Ortonio, Ms. Sunshine Fajarda, Ms. Gina Acosta, and Mr. Edward Fajarda to be granted furlough,” Paduano motioned.
The panel unanimously approved the motion, and granted that they attend the succeeding hearings.
The officials who were granted furlough are the following:
- Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta
- OVP Assistant Chief of Staff and Bids and Awards Committee Chairperson Lemuel Ortonio
- former Department of Education (DepEd) Assistant Secretary Sunshine Fajarda
- former DepEd Special Disbursing Officer Edward Fajarda
The said officials from Vice President (VP) Sara Duterte’s office were invited to the previous hearings to explain anomalies surrounding the misuse of their office’s and the Department of Education’s (DepEd) confidential funds from 2022 to 2023. The Commission on Audit (COA) also mentioned that they flagged the use of the said funds for noncompliance with the 2015 joint circular outlining the guidelines for its utilization.
Despite the motion, the House panel clarified that they had not lifted the contempt order against the four officials. Before this, the officials were cited in contempt and were issued an arrest order for skipping the previous hearings of the Committee.
Meanwhile, another OVP official was rushed to the hospital late Monday, after falling ill.
