Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong has described the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) handling of its confidential funds as a possible “modus operandi,” pointing to testimony that a single individual allegedly played multiple key roles in identifying funded activities, receiving the money and providing documents for liquidation.
Alonto Adiong, spokesman for the House prosecution panel in Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s impeachment trial, raised the red flag over the role of Duterte’s security chief, Col. Raymund Lachica, in managing the OVP’s P125 million confidential fund in December 2022.
During proceedings before the Senate sitting as an Impeachment Court, former OVP special disbursing officer Gina Acosta testified that she turned over the P125 million in confidential funds to Lachica—then head of the Vice President’s security team, upon Duterte’s explicit instructions.
“Mas klaro pa kaysa sikat ng araw na unang-una ang utos may pera, pangalawa ang utos ay galing po sa Vice President at ang nakakapagtaka po diyan (ay) kung bakit ‘yung pag-prepare po ng financial and fiscal plan at ang nagbibigay din po ng mga inputs ay nagmumula kay Colonel Lachica at siya rin po ‘yung inatasang mag-handle nitong confidential funds,” Adiong said.
Acosta told the court that Duterte approved releasing the funds to Lachica because he supposedly possessed the expertise to execute programs and activities involving confidential operations. She added that she sought Lachica’s input regarding confidential operations before handing over the entire cash amount to him after withdrawal.
However, Acosta conceded during questioning that spending confidential funds was not part of a security officer’s official duties.
Alonto Adiong emphasized that established government protocols are specifically designed to separate the responsibility of managing public funds from the duty of auditing or documenting their usage.
“Sa ordinaryo po na kalakaran sa ating gobyerno, alam po natin na ang isang cashier ay hindi rin po magiging auditor. Bawal po ‘yan,” he said.
The lawmaker warned that serious irregularities arise when one person participates in selecting which projects receive funding, assumes physical custody of the money and later submits the liquidation paperwork.
“Hindi po pwede ang nag-identify ng mga proyekto ay siya rin po ang gagamit ng pera na ito at siya rin po ang magsa-submit ng mga liquidation (documents) dahil nagmumukhang modus operandi po ito, ang mga ganitong klaseng kalakaran,” Adiong said.