Audit ruling spurs call for Sara to return P73M
Vice President Sara Duterte should return the P73.28 million in confidential funds her office spent in 2022 without proper documentation, a congressional leader said on Thursday, after the Commission on Audit (COA) flagged the disbursement.
Doing so would allow Duterte to “demonstrate accountability expected of a public servant,” as she faces corruption allegations that threaten her presidential ambitions, according to Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V.
“She must be held responsible for the people’s money entrusted to her and acknowledge where she fell short in the process,” Ortega said in a statement.
State auditors flagged the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for using P73.28 million in confidential funds without proper documentation, affirming in an April 10 decision that her office spent P69.78 million in “rewards,” with no records to back them, and P3.5 million in disallowed purchases of tables, chairs, desktop computers and printers.
11 days
The disallowed expenses were made from Dec. 21 to 31, 2022, or 11 days, according to the COA report.
“This isn’t loose change. It’s a huge amount, and with how difficult life is today, the public expects that every centavo of government funds is properly accounted for,” according to Ortega, one of the endorsers of the impeachment complaints.
A notice of disallowance is issued by the state auditor when it flags a government transaction as “illegal, irregular, unnecessary, excessive, extravagant, or unconscionable,” according to the COA’s charter.
On Tuesday, during the Vice President’s impeachment hearing which she skipped, Gloria Camora, head of the COA section in charge of auditing confidential and intelligence funds, said that Duterte and other officials were required to return the money that was spent but flagged as disallowed by state auditors.
She made the statement in response to Akbayan Rep. Chel Diokno’s question on whether the notice of disallowance compelled Duterte to “restitute” the amount to the government.
Those liable for the flagged spending also include OVP chief accountant Julieta Villadelrey and former OVP security chief Raymund Dante Lachica, according to Camora.
Right to due process
Also on Thursday, a copy of the COA’s 22-page decision on the OVP’s appeal for the confidential expenses showed Duterte and other officials argued their right to due process was violated as state auditors issued the disallowance notice without an audit observation memorandum (AOM).
“The petitioner’s right to due process was not violated when the amount of P3.5 million was disallowed in audit despite not previously raised in the AOMs,” the COA said, explaining that an observation memorandum is not a prerequisite before issuing a notice of disallowance on questionable transactions. “Their right to due process was never violated.”
“The OVP did not fully substantiate and support such expenditures; thus, an ND (notice of disallowance) was properly issued for the irregular expenditure,” the state auditor said in the decision, a copy of which was shared with reporters.
‘Disposed’ of in 24 hours
Duterte could still appeal the disallowance notice in the Supreme Court, according to Camora.
The P73.28 million forms part of the P125 million in confidential funds released to the OVP in 2022, which were all spent in just 11 days by the COA’s reckoning.
The alleged misuse of the confidential fund was one of the allegations in the impeachment complaints against Duterte.
During Tuesday’s hearing, confessed former Duterte “bagman” Ramil Madriaga testified that he “disposed” of the funds in just 24 hours, delivering bags of cash containing P30 to P35 million each to Laguna and Quezon City.
In affirming its disallowance notice on the flagged confidential expenses, Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon said that the COA’s decision could serve as the “pillar” of her alleged secret fund misuse in the impeachment complaints.
“This is no longer a preliminary audit observation,” he said in a statement. “This is no longer an unresolved administrative issue.”
Fictitious recipients
“These are substantive findings by the Constitution’s own fiscal watchdog that the Office of the Vice President unlawfully used confidential funds without sufficient legal, factual, or documentary basis,” Ridon said, adding that the evidence against Duterte was mounting.
He cited the National Bureau of Investigation’s analysis of handwriting on confidential fund receipts and certifications from the statistics bureau that identified fictitious recipients submitted to the House of Representatives justice committee.
Allegations fueling the complaints against the Vice President include claims she misused a total of P612.5 million in confidential and intelligence funds from the Office of the Vice President and the education department when she was its secretary.
Also included were accusations that Duterte plotted to assassinate President Marcos, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez, while also alleging she amassed wealth beyond her declared income.
Duterte has denied any wrongdoing and again questioned her impeachment in the Supreme Court.
The court ruled to nullify her first impeachment last year on grounds that it violated the constitutional one-year bar against the filing of more than one impeachment proceedings against the same official.
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