The testimony provided by an auditor of the Commission on Audit (COA) at the Senate impeachment court showed a clear intention by Vice President Sara Duterte to misuse the PHP125 million in confidential funds her office received in the fourth quarter of 2022, House trial spokesperson Zia Alonto Adiong of Lanao del Sur said Monday.
In a press briefing, he said the testimony of COA auditor Roderick Wamil regarding the audit he and his team from the Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office conducted on the OVP showed a lot of discrepancies and questionable acts that point towards irregularities in the use of the funds.
Adiong said the approved physical and financial plan of the OVP on the use of its confidential funds is significant as it shows how and where the money will be used in this highly secretive appropriation.
“Doon sa physical and financial plan, sabi ng COA hindi compliant dahil unang-una hindi specific at hindi particular kung anong confidential activities ang gagawin nila. Dahil doon ma-dedetermine mo ‘yung manner ng reward or purchase of reward doon sa activity na yun (In the physical and financial plan, the COA said it is not compliant because, first, their confidential activities were not particularly specified. Because you are supposed to determine there the manner of reward and purchase for that activity),” Adiong said.
He said there were no specific details in the OVP’s accomplishment report to justify the use of the confidential funds based on the physical and financial plan.
There were also acknowledgment receipts that were issued a year after the dates covered by the liquidation report of the OVP for the PHP125 million in 2022, which was from Dec. 21 to 31, 2022 or just 11 days.
“Ibig sabihin tapos na supposedly ang pagggamitan ng confidential funds (It means the time for using the confidential fund has already passed),” he said.
Wamil testified that the OVP did not submit any documents to support the purchase of information, particularly on the rewards offered to its supposed informants.
Instead of official receipts or sales invoices, the OVP submitted acknowledgment receipts that were not allowed by COA.
“Kung titignan natin, ‘yung pag-encash nito na unusual, na madalian in-encash, madalian talagang ginastos ito. Dahil madaliang ginastos, hindi tugma-tugma yung dates at hindi tama yung binigay nila mga (Looking at it, the unusual encashment in such a short time means the funds were hurriedly spent. Because it was hurriedly spent, the dates and other particulars were wrong in the documentary evidence they gave) to prove that the confidential funds were used in compliance with the joint circular ng COA,” Adiong said.
“Klaro yun. Yun na-establish natin talaga na meron talagang (That’s was clear. It was really established that there was really an) effort and attempt to really misuse or misappropriate the PHP125 million in confidential funds intended to be used for the last quarter of 2022,” he added.
Case Bolstered
House trial spokesperson and impeachment adviser Robert Ace Barbers said Wamil’s testimony reinforced the panel’s allegation that Duterte may have misused portions of the PHP612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to the OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd).
Barbers said Wamil’s testimony emphasized that while the specific purposes of confidential fund operations may remain undisclosed for security reasons, the procurement of goods and services, supporting transactions and liquidation of expenses remain subject to government auditing rules.
“Government-allotted confidential funds may be confidential as to their purpose, but their utilization, transactions and liquidation must still comply with COA rules,” Barbers said, citing Wamil’s testimony before the Senate impeachment court.
Wamil testified that state auditors identified alleged gaps in documentation supporting portions of the PHP612.5 million confidential funds, including acknowledgment receipts and other liquidation records. He added that auditors also examined the reported rapid liquidation of substantial confidential fund releases within a relatively short period.
Wamil said that confidential funds may be spent only for purposes authorized under existing rules and that compliance is determined through the documentary evidence submitted to auditors.
He also testified that the OVP accomplishment report submitted to COA’s Intelligence and Confidential Fund Audit Office bore Vice President Duterte’s signature beneath the words “Approved by.”
“It signifies that the signatory, or the Vice President, approved the contents of this accomplishment report,” Wamil said.
Wamil further testified that the accomplishment report did not enumerate the specific confidential activities allegedly undertaken by the OVP, making it difficult for auditors to determine whether the reported expenditures fell within the allowable uses of confidential funds under Item 4.8 of COA-DBM Joint Circular No. 2015-01.
Barbers said the House prosecution panel will continue presenting documentary evidence and witness testimony to support its case before the Senate impeachment court.
Vice President Duterte has denied wrongdoing and has maintained that the confidential fund expenditures were lawful, leaving the Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, to determine the issues based on the evidence presented.
Prosecution May Shorten Evidence Presentation
Meanwhile, House prosecutor Joel Chua of Manila said the prosecution may shorten its evidence presentation on the alleged misuse of confidential and intelligence funds to expedite Duterte’s impeachment trial.
He said the prosecution would consider reducing the number of its witnesses on Article 1 like what it did on Article 4, when it determined that the evidence already presented was enough to prove the charges of grave threats and inciting to sedition against the Vice President.
He said the prosecution would do the same with respect to Article 1, of which he is in charge of presenting, provided that the weight of the evidence would not suffer.
“So dito siyempre, gumagawa rin tayo ng paraan na mapa-iksi yung presentasyon namin pero in the same manner na hindi magsa-suffer ‘yung bigat ng ebidensiya na ipi-presenta po namin (we are also making efforts to shorten the presentation of evidence, but, of course, in the same manner that the weight of evidence that we will present will not suffer),” he said.
“Kung makikita po namin na namin na pagkaraan ng ilang testigo, nakita ay supisyente na, nakuha na po namin yung result na gusto po namin at matibay na matibay na ang aming ebidensiya, eh maaaring piliin na lamang po namin yung mga ipe-presenta namin na testigo (If we see that the evidence is sufficient after just a few witnesses, or we have achieved very strong evidence, we can just choose who to present),” he said.
He added that the prosecution would aim to finish its evidence presentation on Article 1 this month. (PNA)