By Jose Cielito Reganit | Philippine News Agency
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Col. Magtanggol Panopio said Tuesday that he was surprised to learn that a certification he issued merely to confirm the conduct of Philippine Army youth activities had been used in connection with the Department of Education’s (DepEd) liquidation of P15.54 million in confidential-fund rewards.
In his testimony before the Senate impeachment court, Panopio said he discovered the document’s use only when he appeared before a House inquiry into DepEd’s confidential intelligence funds in 2024, not when he issued the certification dated Dec. 5, 2023.
“Nalaman po namin iyan noong humarap kami sa Congress, noong nagkaroon po ng congressional hearing sa confidential intelligence fund ng Department of Education, Your Honor,” he said.
Presiding Officer Senator Francis Escudero placed the date of that House hearing on the record as Oct. 17, 2024. Panopio confirmed that it was there that he learned that his certification had been included among DepEd’s documents in responding to a Commission on Audit (COA) Audit Observation Memorandum.
“Medyo nagulat po kami, kasi iyong certification po namin is only for the certification that we conducted the Youth Leadership Summit. Hindi po namin sine-certify anything about money or funds, Your Honor,” he said.
He said the document was issued under instructions coursed through his military command and coordinated with former DepEd Undersecretary Nolasco Mempin.
Issuing such documents was not unusual in itself, he said, because military activities commonly involved other government agencies and local partners.
“It is part of my job as the assistant chief of staff for civil-military operations to issue certificates to our partners, especially on activities conducted by the division, Your Honor,” he said.
“Ang certification na iyon po ay nagpapatunay na iyong mga Youth Leadership Summit ay totoong naisakatuparan sa aming area of operations during the year 2023, Your Honor,” he added.
Meanwhile, Col. Panopio traced DepEd inputs to teachers, schools, and communities – not paid intelligence.
His certification stated that areas for the summits were identified through information obtained primarily from DepEd and that information exchange supported military operations focused on protecting schools.
Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian questioned what kind of information that language described and whether it was confidential or surveillance information.
Col. Panopio explained that site selection began with ordinary interagency planning.
“When we conduct YLS, we are following different phases. During the planning phase, we are coordinating with different agencies like the LGUs, the schools and the community kung saan po namin iko-conduct iyong YLS,” he said.
Asked who within DepEd supplied the information, Panopio did not identify a national official, confidential agent, or paid source, pointing principally to school personnel participating in local coordination.
“I assume that it came from the teachers on the ground as members of DepEd, who provided us the information on how and where to conduct the YLS, Your Honor,” he said.
He later identified teachers on the ground as the personnel he believed were being referred to in the certification.
Panopio did not claim that every input was public, initially describing the information, based on experience, as potentially mixed.
“So, I think iyong information na ito ay masasabi natin na somehow mayroong confidential or mayroong open-source. But based on experience, it is mixed, Your Honor,” he said.
Gatchalian then required him to identify the actual subject matter. Panopio cited conditions known within communities, including disaster-response concerns, parenting, terrorism and communism, drug abuse, and family matters.
When asked whether those were confidential, he clarified, “It is open-source information because it is known in the community.”
Pressed for an example of genuinely confidential information from DepEd, Col. Panopio did not cite an intelligence report, surveillance record, or informer’s disclosure.
“I can speculate only, or maybe the personal circumstances like teenage pregnancies or other personal information na maging confidential because it is their personal life, Your Honor,” he said. (PNA)
