In a dramatic shift at the Senate Impeachment Court on Monday, Office of the Vice President (OVP) Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta was formally declared a hostile witness, paving the way for prosecutors to subject her to aggressive questioning regarding P500 million in controversial confidential funds.
The court granted a motion from private prosecutor Atty. Armando Virgil Ligutan, who argued that Acosta held interests directly aligned against the prosecution. The designation under Section 13, Rule 132 of the Revised Rules on Evidence allows the prosecution panel to ask leading questions as if conducting a cross-examination.
“The prosecution presents the first hostile witness in this impeachment trial,” Ligutan informed the court. “Ang testimonya ng kauna-unahang hostile witness sa impeachment trial na ito is being presented to prove ang mga sumusunod… Si Gina Acosta bilang isang hostile witness, ibig sabihin hindi po siya testigo pabor sa prosecution.”
Ligutan cited a counter-affidavit Acosta previously submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman, in which she asserted that Vice President Sara Duterte should not be held liable for any alleged misuse of OVP confidential funds.
“Kung yung posisyon ng isang witness ay salungat sa posisyon ng party nung nagpapatawag sa kanya, sa kasong iyan, sabi ng Supreme Court, established na po yung requirement ng adverse interests sa ilalim ng Rules of Court,” Ligutan argued.
Presiding Officer Sen. Francis Escudero sustained the motion, pointing out that Acosta’s coterminous status as an OVP employee means her employment remains tied to the Vice President’s tenure.
“In addition to the ground raised by Atty. Ligutan, that witness has taken a position by virtue of her counter-affidavit filed before the Office of the Ombudsman, the court hereby declares the witness to be a hostile witness,” Escudero ruled.
With the hostile witness status secured, prosecutors focused their interrogation on the handling of OVP accounts, specifically probing the liquidation of P125 million in confidential funds spent over an 11-day period in late 2022, as well as P375 million disbursed across three quarters in 2023. The prosecution pressed Acosta on accusations that she personally handed over P500 million in physical cash to OVP security officer Col. Lachica on Duterte’s orders, alleging the transaction violated Joint Circular No. 2015-01 because Lachica was not an official disbursing officer.
Tensions flared further during the proceedings when Acosta elected to answer questions in Bisaya. Senator-Judge Erwin Tulfo intervened, pointing out that official transcripts from a November hearing before the House Committee on Good Government showed Acosta responding fluently in English and Tagalog.
“Hindi ko po maintindihan bakit parang dito hirap na hirap po siya mag-Tagalog when in fact sa Congress po noong November, Tagalog naman po ang sagot niya,” Tulfo said. “Mr. President, tama na po itong panloloko sa atin. Please, Mr. President, compel this witness to talk in Tagalog.”
Escudero sustained Tulfo’s point, directing prosecutors to pose their questions exclusively in either English or Filipino to streamline the examination and avoid constant translation.