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‘I must be candid about this. I must say, I did. thought it was a common practice in the department,’ says DepEd director and Bids and Awards Committee chairman Resty Osias
MANILA, Philippines – Another high-ranking official of the Department of Education (DepEd) admitted that he received envelopes each containing P12,000 to P15,000 cash from Vice President Sara Duterte when she was the education secretary.
At the House probe on Thursday, October 17, DepEd director and Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) chairman Resty Osias said he received these envelopes four times — from April 2023 to September 2023 — from former DepEd assistant secretary Sunshine Fajarda.
“I must be candid about this. I must say, I did. thought it was a common practice in the department. The very first time I encountered that matter was sometime in April of 2023,” Osias said in response to Manila 2nd District Representative Rolando Valeriano’s question about receiving cash from Duterte.
“I didn’t know why I was summoned to the office of Asec [Assistant Secretary] Shine. And then, I was given an envelope. It was later on I found out there was money in it. It’s not because I was BAC member yet, because [I] wasn’t at that time,” Osias added.
Valeriano questioned Osias about the issue after former DepEd Undersecretary Gloria Mercado revealed in a recent House hearing that Duterte gave her nine envelopes containing P50,000 each while she was the head of the agency’s procurement entity. Duterte didn’t categorically deny this revelation but insisted that Mercado was dismissed for using her name without permission to solicit P16 million from the private sector.
The lawmaker noted that Osias stopped receiving envelopes in September 2023, coinciding with the exposure of the confidential funds issue involving the Vice President.
“Mukang sumakto. Sa panahon na ‘di na giganamit ng DepEd ang confidential funds for the last quarter nang pumuputok na issue ng confidential funds,” Valeriano said.
(It seems to align. At the time when DepEd was no longer using confidential funds for the last quarter amid the escalating issue of confidential funds.)
Former DepEd spokesperson Michael Poa also admitted receiving envelopes with cash from the Vice President “occasionally.”
Poa said that he received an envelope in December 2022, explaining that, as the DepEd spokesperson, he had occasionally used his own money to assist individuals who sought help from his office.
“I do remember sometime December 2022, I received an envelope with minimal amount. There were instances I would receive, not from Asec Shine, but from the VP herself,” Poa said.
The Office of the Vice President has not yet commented on this latest revelation. We will update this story as soon as they release a statement. – Rappler.com
