Impeachment trial shifts to VP’s spending
The House prosecution panel in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial will present Commission on Audit (COA) officials this week to strengthen its case that she misused millions of pesos in confidential funds while serving as vice president and education secretary.
Expected to testify on Monday and Tuesday are Celine May Del Campo, supervising auditor, who heads the commission’s confidential funds unit, and former auditor Roderick Wamil. They are expected to explain the audit process and discuss the notices of disallowance and audit observations issued over Duterte’s liquidation of P612.5 million in confidential and intelligence funds in 2022 and 2023.
The spending has long been the subject of allegations of misuse and corruption.
‘Where the money went’
The prosecution is seeking to prove that Duterte’s confidential fund disbursements violated auditing rules and failed to satisfy the accountability requirements governing the use of secret government funds. During the initial presentation of witnesses and evidence last week, the Vice President’s defense has maintained that the expenditures were lawful and consistent with existing regulations.
Marivic Pareja, head of the House of Representatives’ legislative archives department, is also scheduled to take the witness stand later this week.
Their testimonies mark the continuation of the prosecution’s presentation of evidence on the second article of impeachment, which accuses Duterte of misusing P500 million in confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and P112.5 million allocated to the Department of Education (DepEd) when she headed the agency.
The allegations triggered congressional inquiries that examined how the funds were spent, including the use of recipients bearing unusual names such as Mary Grace Piattos and over a thousand others in liquidation documents submitted to justify the confidential expenditures.
Last week, prosecutors called two branch managers of state-run Land Bank of the Philippines who testified separately that OVP and DepEd personnel encashed checks amounting to tens or even hundreds of millions of pesos, bundled the cash and carried it out in gym bags.
“The question then is who last received it and where the money went,” said Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, prosecution adviser, who also noted that liquidation reports alone could not establish that confidential funds had been properly spent.
“Receipts or liquidation alone are not enough,” he said, adding that confidential fund expenditures “must be proven that there was a real recipient, a real operation, and a real result.”
Result of expenditures
Also on Sunday, House prosecution spokesperson and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said confidential funds are not beyond the COA’s authority and cannot be treated as discretionary spending insulated from audit scrutiny.
“The public must also know that the spending is substantial. The bigger the amount, the deeper the Commission on Audit and the government must probe and ask questions,” he said in an interview with dzBB.
Adiong said prosecutors would ask COA witnesses whether Duterte’s confidential fund disbursements complied with Joint Circular No. 2015-01, the inter-agency guidelines governing the release, use, liquidation and reporting of confidential and intelligence funds.
The prosecution also intends to determine whether the expenditures produced legitimate operational results consistent with the purpose for which confidential funds are appropriated.
“We will ask what accomplishments were made in terms of supporting the government’s counterterrorism agenda and program,” Adiong said.
He said the prosecution has also lined up reserve witnesses with expertise in confidential and intelligence fund operations to help senator-judges understand standard government procedures and determine whether Duterte’s spending departed from established rules and practices.
The confidential funds case is the second article of impeachment being heard by the Senate impeachment court after prosecutors concluded the presentation of evidence on allegations that Duterte committed grave threats and betrayed public trust through remarks against President Marcos, first lady Liza Araneta-Marcos and former Speaker Martin Romualdez.
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