The impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte enters a new phase this week as Commission on Audit (COA) officials are set to testify on how the PHP612.5 million in confidential funds received by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) were liquidated and whether the expenditures complied with government rules.
Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre said the prosecution will now focus on the audit and accounting of the confidential funds after presenting evidence on how the money was withdrawn.
“The next witnesses will come from the COA. They will explain how the confidential funds were audited and how the liquidation was reviewed. They will also discuss whether the supporting documents complied with the rules governing confidential and intelligence funds,” Acidre said in a statement Sunday.
Former COA state auditor Roderick Wamil and Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office Supervising Auditor Celine May Del Campo are expected to testify first. House Legislative Information Resources Management Department Director Marivic Pareja is also scheduled to take the witness stand later in the week.
The prosecution’s next set of witnesses follows last week’s testimony from former Land Bank branch managers Violeta Constantino and Nenita Camposano, who detailed how the confidential funds were withdrawn in cash.
According to Acidre, their testimonies established that the PHP612.5 million came from public funds released by the National Treasury and was encashed through seven treasury checks.
“Unang-una, napatunayan natin na ang pondo ay galing sa public fund. Pangalawa, napatunayan na ito ay winithdraw in cold cash,” Acidre said.
Constantino testified that four treasury checks worth PHP125 million each, totaling PHP500 million, were encashed for the OVP between December 2022 and July 2023 by Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta, accompanied by Assistant Secretary Lemuel Ortonio.
Camposano, meanwhile, told the impeachment court that three treasury checks worth PHP37.5 million each, totaling PHP112.5 million, were encashed for DepEd between February and July 2023 by Special Disbursing Officer Edward Fajarda while Duterte was education secretary.
Acidre said questioning by senator-judges also highlighted the unusual size and cash nature of the transactions.
Under Article I of the impeachment complaint, Duterte is accused of misusing PHP612.5 million in confidential funds released to the OVP and DepEd from 2022 to 2023.
The prosecution said the COA witnesses are also expected to discuss the commission’s directive ordering the return of PHP73.287 million in confidential funds released to the OVP in 2022.
Lawmakers are likewise expected to revisit findings from the 2024 House inquiry, which flagged alleged irregularities in the liquidation documents, including acknowledgment receipts bearing names such as “Mary Grace Piattos,” “Milky Secuya” and “Kokoy Villamin.”
During the House investigation, the Philippine Statistics Authority and the National Bureau of Investigation reported that several supposed recipients had no matching birth records, while some signatures on the receipts appeared to have been written by the same person.
