DepEd used military certifications for secret funds, Army officer testifies

An Army officer who helped oversee the military’s Youth Leadership Summit (YLS) said he had no idea the certifications he issued for the activity would be used by the Department of Education (DepEd) – then headed by Vice President Sara Duterte – to liquidate millions in her confidential funds. Testifying before the impeachment court yesterday, Col. Manaros Boransing, who served as assistant chief of staff for civil-military operations of the 1st Infantry “Tabak” Division, maintained that while he personally drafted and signed the certification attesting to zero reported communist terrorist group (CTG) incidents, he was completely in the dark about its intended financial use. “I didn’t know it would be used as liquidating instrument for confidential fund,” Boransing said under questioning by Sen. Panfilo Lacson. Boransing’s testimony was part of the examination of evidence concerning the Commission on Audit (COA)’s disallowance of P15.54 million from DepEd’s P112.5-million confidential fund expenditure in 2023. DepEd had submitted military certification letters covering YLS activities to justify the flagged spending before state auditors. During interjection by Sen. Bam Aquino, Boransing revealed that the military’s actual operational spending for each of the eight YLS events was “around P30,000.” Boransing noted that local government units generally covered the primary logistics – including meals, shirts and team-building funds – for groups with 30 to over 100 participants. DepEd’s involvement, he said, was limited to coordination, occasional facility use and providing subject-matter experts. Aquino cited the disparity between the modest community-level costs and the tens of millions of pesos in DepEd confidential funds declared for surveillance and information-gathering to secure the summits. “You didn’t find it puzzling that P15 million had been spent for information for events that don’t cost more than maybe 200k, 150-200k per event?” Aquino asked. “I did not know the amount or that there was any funds by the DepEd po, sir,” Boransing said, explaining that he only learned about the figures during previous legislative inquiries in October 2024. Asked by Aquino for his reaction to the discrepancy, Boransing declined to comment saying, “I think it is not appropriate for an active member of the armed forces to give his opinion on such a political issue.” The issue first surfaced during a hearing by the House good government committee, where then-DepEd undersecretary Michael Poa testified that retired Maj. Gen. Nolasco Mempin – then a fellow DepEd undersecretary – was asked to secure military certifications after COA flagged the P15.54 million for lack of documentation. Upon questioning from Sen. Risa Hontiveros, Boransing confirmed that the Philippine Army had undertaken similar educational activities against communist recruitment using its appropriated budget without need for confidential funds from DepEd. “There was no mention of any funds in the certification that we issued,” Boransing said. — Marc Jayson Cayabyab, Delon Porcalla