The House prosecution panel has urged Vice President Sara Duterte to personally account for the transfer of confidential funds to a military official after a Commission on Audit (COA) witness testified that the transaction violated existing guidelines.
Supervising auditor Xylene Mae del Campo of the COA-Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (COA-ICFAO) testified that a Notice of Disallowance was issued last March covering three P125-million cash advances released to the Office of the Vice President (OVP).
Del Campo pointed to the sworn testimony of former OVP special disbursing officer (SDO) Gina Acosta, who previously stated before a House inquiry that she handed over the funds to Col. Raymond Dante Lachica, head of the Vice-Presidential Security and Protection Group, upon Duterte’s orders.
House prosecution counsel and spokesperson Atty. Benjamin Tolosa Jr. emphasized that the auditor’s revelation directly implicates the Vice President in a breach of regulations.
“Dito maliwanag, narinig natin, siya mismo nag-utos ng ganitong bagay, which constitutes a direct violation of the Joint Circular,” Tolosa said. He stressed that the burden of justification falls squarely on Duterte herself, adding, “Walang iba makakapaliwanag dyan kung hindi ang vice-president.”
Under Joint Circular No. 2015-01, an SDO bears sole responsibility for disbursing cash advances, and regulations strictly forbid transferring confidential funds from one accountable officer to another. Del Campo testified that Acosta’s turnover of the funds to Lachica represented a direct violation of this mandate.
Tolosa noted that the breach was severe enough that COA bypassed the usual preliminary response period. “Nasabi niya, they considered it as an irregularity, as a blatant violation of the rules,” Tolosa said. “Pero tulad ng sabi niya, dahil napakalinaw na, it’s a clear violation of the joint circular which governs the use and liquidation of confidential funds, diniretsyo na niya na mag-issue ng notice of disallowance.”
Prosecution spokesperson and Kabataan party-list Rep. Renee Co echoed calls for the Vice President to take the stand in her impeachment trial, noting that the text of the circular allows no ambiguity.
“Mahihirap na makahanap ng justification,” Co said. “Dahil, as you mentioned, clear po yung black letter law, yung text ng Joint Memorandum Circular. Kung ano man po ang explanation na contravening this text, kailangan po natin marinig kay VP Sara Duterte herself.”
The prosecution maintained that the Senate Impeachment Court will ultimately weigh the evidence to determine the Vice President’s culpability under Article 1 of the impeachment case, which centers on the alleged misuse and irregular liquidation of confidential funds.