Gloria Mercado, Former DepEd Official, Makes Strong Allegation against VP Sara Duterte
Former DepEd official Gloria Mercado accused Vice President Sara Duterte of showering her subordinates with money.
The resignation of Vice Pres. Sara Duterte from being the DepEd secretary shocked a lot of Filipinos. Then, the Vice President claimed that it is out of compassion for the teachers and the students.
Duterte also left the Cabinet of Pres. Bongbong Marcos. The Chief Executive welcomed the decision of the Vice President. She was replaced by Senator Sonny Angara as the education chief.
Vice Pres. Sara Duterte has served as the secretary of the Department of Education from July 2022 until her resignation in July 2024. However, despite her resignation, there are issues that seeks for her answer regarding her stint.
The Commission on Audit or COA previously flagged the feeding program of DepEd during Duterte’s term. A hearing was also held in the House of Representatives to discuss the DepEd fund use during the Vice President’s term but she was no show at the inquiry.
Recently, a strong claim against Vice Pres. Sara Duterte crossed the surface. Based on a report on GMA News, former Education official Gloria Mercado claimed that Duterte allegedly showered her subordinates with money.
Mercado worked as education undersecretary. She was the head of the Procuring Entity (HoPE) at DepEd. Based on the report, the former DepEd Official claimed that DepEd undersecretaries and assistance secretaries allegedly receives envelopes with money that is around P50,000 monthly.
“Between February 2023 to September 2023, I received a total of nine envelopes labelled HoPE,” Mercado claimed.
Based on the report, the former DepEd Official claimed that the envelopes were allegedly given to her by Atty. Sunshine Fajarda, the wife of Edward D. Fajarda who is the Special Disbursement Officer.
Mercado claimed that Fajarda would tell her that the envelope came from the OVP. The former DepEd Undersecretary also claimed one of her staff told her about Mr. Fajarda allegedly asking about the bank accounts of several individuals.
“Evidently, it would appear that regional directors and other employees on the field would also receive sums on top of their regular salaries,” she said.
Based on the report, Gloria Mercado said that when she opposed the negotiated procurement for the DepEd Computerization Program, she was allegedly asked to tender her resignation. The former DepEd Official claimed that it was Attorney Zuleika Lopez, chief of staff of Vice President Duterte and undersecretary at the Office of the Vice President, who told her to resign.
Mercado does not want to address the envelopes as “bribe” saying it is a harsh word to use. Meanwhile, on the envelope meaning to influence her decision being the HoPe, she said, “it could be”.