Commission on Audit (COA) witness Xylene Mae del Campo testified that the state audit agency is considering reopening its investigation into P612.5 million in 2022 fourth-quarter confidential funds handled by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd) after special disbursing officers (SDOs) improperly transferred the cash directly to military personnel.
The transfers involved OVP SDO Gina Acosta handing funds to former Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group head Col. Raymund Lachica and DepEd SDO Edward Fajarda transferring money to Col. Dennis Nolasco.
Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian noted that because both transfers violated accounting rules, the entire P612.5 million allocation across both offices faces potential disallowance.
“Pero pag titignan natin yung circumstances, pareho eh. Binigay yung pera kay Lachica, binigay yung pera kay Nolasco. Kung ganoon susundan natin na rational, puwedeng ma-disallow rin yung fourth quarter OVP at buong DepEd confidential funds…So, puwedeng ma-disallow buong P612.5 million na confidential funds sa OVP at sa DepEd. Tama?” Gatchalian asked.
Del Campo affirmed, explaining that transferring cash advances to non-SDOs breaks the chain of accountability and nullifies official compliance certifications.
“Yung special disbursing officer po kasi, siya yung may responsibility to disbursing yung cash advance. And doon po kasi ang nangyari sa DepEd at saka sa OVP, nung tinransfer po niya ito sa ibang tao, naputol na po yung chain of accountability nawalan na siya ng personal knowledge kung talaga bang ginamit ito ng mga security officers na pinagbigyan for confidential activities,” Del Campo said.
She added, “ang mababale wala yung certification na this is for the confidential operations of the agency and legal and necessary yung naging gastos,” emphasizing that the funds risk being disallowed because “naging mali yung paggasta” and “puwede po itong magamit sa hindi dapat paggamitan na hindi confidential expenses.”
Addressing the audit process, Sen. Panfilo Lacson pointed out that COA Joint Memorandum Circular 2015-01 empowers auditors to inspect agency vaults containing classified records “if circumstances so demand.”
Lacson questioned why auditors did not inspect the agency’s vault after uncovering suspicious aliases and signatures in the OVP’s liquidation records. “Hindi ba dinemand ng circumstances that you inspect the vault kasi ang daming aliases?” Lacson asked, adding that a physical vault inspection could have enabled forensic signature comparisons to verify authenticity.