VP’s trial gets tastier with ‘Pampano,’ ‘Keso’
Was somebody throwing a party?
More food-related names, such as “Pampano,” “Keso,” “Kamote,” and “Mango,” were among the unusual-sounding surnames that appeared in acknowledgment receipts (ARs) presented during the 14th day of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
They join previously questioned appellations, such as “Piattos,” “Harina,” and “Oishi” in the liquidation documents submitted by the Office of the Vice President (OVP).
Lawyer Lorna Kapunan, counsel for the prosecutors, presented additional ARs covering the third quarter of 2023, involving P125 million in confidential funds disbursed by the OVP from July 14 to Sept. 30, 2023, as Xylene del Campo of the Commission on Audit’s Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (COA-Icfao) took the witness stand on Tuesday.
The receipts were submitted by the OVP in response to an Audit Observation Memorandum (AOM) from the COA that demanded additional supporting documents for the proper liquidation of the funds covering the third quarter of 2023.
Among the names appearing in the receipts presented, and their received amounts, were the following:
For the purchase of information: Beverly Claire Pampano – P130,000; Renan Piatos – P110,000; Kokoy Villamin – P50,000; Denise Tanya Escudero – P120,000.
Undocumented
For purchase of supplies, materials, and equipment for confidential operations (Payment for the Purchase of Supplies): Matthew N. Keso – P250,000; Nova Santos – P50,000; Salah Casim – P180,000; Xiaome Ocho – P100,000; Jay Kamote – P200,000; Miggy Mango – P50,000; Honeylet Camille Sy – P350,000.
For Reward Payment: Contis, Connor Adrian – P50,000; Kristine Applegate Estrada – P50,000.
Kapunan also presented an AR indicating that an “Anne Ongpauco” received P50,000 for Purchase of Information while a “Heart Santiago” received P250,000 for the purchase or rental of supplies, materials, and equipment for confidential operations.
“Did you ask if they were related to our presiding officer?,” Kapunan asked Del Campo, who said she did not.
The wife of Sen. Francis Escudero, the presiding officer in the impeachment trial, is actress Heart Evangelista. Evangelista’s real name is Love Marie Ongpauco-Escudero.
Citing the names Escudero, Honeylet, and Estrada, which appear to be drawn from names of known political personalities, Kapunan asked Del Campo what she observed while auditing the ARs.
“For the payment of rewards, it was not supported by documents evidencing success. For the purchase of supplies, I asked for additional documentation to ascertain that the payment was indeed made for supplies used in confidential operations,” Del Campo said.
Del Campo said that in examining the OVP’s liquidation papers, the AOM cited four findings: failure to submit documents evidencing payments for confidential fund disbursements, lack of supporting documents for reward payments, failure to specify activities in their physical and financial plan, and disbursement vouchers that were not signed by the recipient or the special disbursing officer.
Responding to the AOM, the OVP submitted certifications for the reward payments and purchase information operation report, Del Campo said.
Kapunan poked fun at the unusual names cited in the receipts when she said, “It’s now 12 o’clock. With the names Apple, Keso, Mangga, etcetera, I think it is time for us to have lunch, Your Honor.”
Escudero acceded to Kapunan’s proposal, and the impeachment court took a 30-minute lunch break.
Different Diokno
House prosecutor and Akbayan Rep. Chel Diokno, meanwhile, responded to accusations that he allegedly received confidential funds from Duterte’s office by pointing out that if indeed it were true, it was yet more proof that the OVP used the allocation improperly.
Among the OVP receipts presented at the impeachment trial were P500,000 for the purchase of medical and food aid under the name Clarisse Hontiveros and P120,000 for the purchase of information under a Jose Diokno Jr.
In a statement on Tuesday, Diokno maintained that he never received CF payouts from Duterte, noting the Jose Diokno Jr. in the OVP’s AR does not pertain to him.
“They have been using this issue for a long time just to tarnish my name. I would like to clarify: My name is Jose Manuel Diokno, not Jose Diokno Jr. I have never received confidential funds. And I have never been an agent of the Vice President.”
“But yes, let us give in to the trolls’ idea. If you insist that I received confidential funds, then you also admitted that VP Sara used her confidential funds in the wrong manner,” he added.
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