By Junex Doronio
MANILA – On Monday (November 11, 2024), the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) chief lawyer, Emily Torrentira, unexpectedly appeared at a House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability hearing, despite not being formally invited.
Torrentira, head of the OVP’s Legal Affairs Department, refused to take an oath to “tell the whole truth” before the panel investigating alleged misuse of confidential funds, leading to her dismissal by committee chair Manila Rep. Joel Chua.
Last September 18, Vice President Sara Duterte also refused to take an oath and answer questions regarding the alleged misuse of P625 million in confidential funds received by the OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd) in 2022 and 2023, during her tenure as education secretary.
Torrentira is not one of the seven OVP officers summoned by the committee to explain adverse audit findings on the utilization of the P625-million confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs) allotted to the OVP and DepEd.
The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged millions of pesos in confidential fund disbursements, including P73 million that it has disallowed, calling on the Vice President and two other officials to return the amount to government funds.
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