The House prosecution team is set to present evidence on the alleged misuse of confidential funds by Vice President Sara Duterte, with claims involving fictitious recipients, questionable signatures, and Commission on Audit (COA) findings that ordered the return of hundreds of millions of pesos.
House prosecutor and Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon said the prosecution expects to begin presenting its case on the confidential funds article as early as July 22, following the completion of National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag’s testimony on the impeachment article involving Duterte’s alleged threats.
“‘Yung confidential funds misuse, ito po ‘yung isa sa mga pinakainaantay ng bayan na talakayan at presentasyon po ng ebidensya,” Ridon said during a press briefing.
The first impeachment article alleges that Duterte misused a total of ₱612.5 million in confidential funds from the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd), including the ₱125 million released by the OVP within 11 days in December 2022.
According to the prosecution, the disbursements were supported by questionable liquidation documents, including acknowledgment receipts bearing the names of alleged fictitious recipients.
The Senate impeachment court has already approved the prosecution’s request to subpoena its first three witnesses for the confidential funds article: Marivic Pareja of the House Legislative Archives Museum Management Service, former Land Bank Shaw Boulevard branch manager Violeta Constantino, and former Land Bank DepEd branch manager Nenita Camposano.
The three witnesses are expected to begin the prosecution’s presentation of evidence by producing documents related to the allegations.
Among the documents the prosecution plans to present are liquidation records identifying individuals who allegedly received confidential funds from the OVP, including names such as “Mary Grace Piattos” and “Milky Sikuya.”
“Pag-uusapan ho dito ‘yung Mary Grace Piattos, Milky Sikuya, at iba pa hong mga pangalan na kumuha, tumanggap ng confidential funds mula sa [OVP],” Ridon said.
Ridon said the prosecution will also present evidence indicating that several acknowledgment receipts may have been signed by the same individual or group of individuals.
He added that the team will present Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) records allegedly showing that some of the supposed recipients could not be verified in official databases.
“Ilalahad din po doon ‘yung PSA report kung saan sinasabi that these particular personalities do not actually exist. They were never born, they were never married, they had never died in the Philippines,” Ridon said.
The prosecution also intends to present COA findings involving the return of confidential funds.
Ridon said this includes the final COA ruling ordering the return of ₱73 million from Duterte’s 2022 confidential funds, as well as the remaining ₱448 million balance that the prosecution said may also have to be returned if no appeal is filed.
“Una doon pong sa unang paggamit ng confidential funds ng 2022, P73 million yung pong pinapasoli at nag-achieve na po ito ng finality sa Commission on Audit Proper. Ibig sabihin, kailangan na pong isoli personal ng Pangalawang Pangulo at ng iba pang mga napangalanan doon,” he said.
“Yung pong balance ng P448 million, kung hindi ho sila nag-apela dito po sa kautusang ito, kailangan na rin po nilang magsoli ng pera sa atin pong kaban ng yaman,” he added.