Army officer: No confidential intel behind DepEd-backed youth summits

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Education did not provide confidential or surveillance information to the military for its Youth Leadership Summits, said a military officer whose certification was later used to support DepEd's questioned confidential fund expenses. Col. Manaros Boransing II testified at the Senate impeachment court Tuesday, September 1, suggesting that the P15.54 million spending the Commission on Audit flagged was not used for activity for which they were cited. During interpellation by Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, Boransing said DepEd provided only open-source information about students who could participate in the summits. "For the First Infantry Tabak Division? No, sir, they did not provide any confidential or surveillance information," Boransing said, partly in Filipino. "What they give is open-source information about their students." Boransing had even said he did not know his certification would be used as an excuse for the expenses. DepEd's involvement was limited to sharing basic, non-classified details, such as identifying potential student leaders who could participate in the summits and determining which school facilities were available and safe to host the events, he said. Gatchalian further pressed Boransing on whether DepEd had ever provided confidential or surveillance information for these activities in the past, prior to the controversial 2022 and 2023 allocations. Boransing reiterated that the Armed Forces of the Philippines relies on its own intelligence units to identify security threats and crucial locations, rather than receiving confidential information from civilian agencies such as DepEd. "The AFP intelligence units are in charge of gathering information or receiving information... It is not the civil-military operations personnel," Boransing explained. Boransing served as assistant chief of staff for civil-military operations, G7, of the 1st Infantry "Tabak" Division from 2021 to 2026, during which he helped oversee the YLS. COA had previously flagged P75 million of DepEd's confidential fund expenses under Vice President Sara Duterte due to a lack of supporting documents. DepEd later presented military certification letters to support P15.54 million in confidential fund expenses that state auditors had questioned. Boransing was among the military officials who issued the certifications. However, he said he was unaware that his certification would be used to justify DepEd's confidential fund expenses before COA. Tuesday marked the 20th day of Duterte's impeachment trial. The Senate impeachment court is currently hearing Article I of the Articles of Impeachment, which concerns allegations over the use of confidential funds by DepEd and the Office of the Vice President.