Testifying before the Senate Impeachment Court during the trial of Vice President Sara Z. Duterte, prosecution witness Col. Manaros M. Boransing II defended his personal knowledge of military activities listed under his signature, despite having physically attended only one of the eight Youth Leadership Summits (YLS) included in his certification.
During direct examination by private prosecutor Atty. Reynaldo B. Robles, Boransing explained that his knowledge stemmed directly from his administrative and supervisory role as the senior civil-military operations staff officer (G7) for the Philippine Army’s 1st Infantry “Tabak” Division in 2023.
“I supervise the implementation of the plans, and I also get all the data on our subunits’, subordinate units’ implementation of those plans,” Boransing told the court, affirming the validity of the January 1, 2024 certification he issued.
The document in question listed eight YLS activities involving 531 youth participants, alongside 53 Information Education Campaign (IEC) activities reaching 9,428 students across schools within the division’s area of operations.
To reinforce the witness’s consistency, Robles replayed video footage from Boransing’s October 17, 2024 testimony before the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability. In the clip, when pressed on how he could confirm the details of all eight summits after attending just one, Boransing firmly maintained, “I have personal knowledge.”
Boransing clarified that as the division’s G7, his duties included advising the commander, formulating operational plans, monitoring execution, and consolidating field data. He noted that his supervisory oversight relied on concrete documentary evidence generated by field units, including after-activity reports, fund utilization reports, event photographs and documentation and annual field inspections conducted by higher headquarters
“I am in charge of supervising. I am the civil-military operations officer. So I closely monitor,” Boransing said.
Boransing drew a clear line regarding the scope of his testimony, emphasizing that his direct knowledge was strictly confined to Army activities. He acknowledged that he had no visibility into the Department of Education’s (DepEd) confidential funds, including who received financial rewards, what specific intelligence expenses were incurred or whether those funds directly supported military operations.
The issue directly intersects with Article I of the impeachment complaint against Vice President Duterte, which centers on alleged irregularities in the handling and liquidation of P112.5 million in DepEd confidential funds during her tenure as Secretary of Education.
DepEd had attached the Army certifications, including the one signed by Boransing, to its April 17, 2024 response to the Commission on Audit (COA) regarding Audit Observation Memorandum No. 2024-015. The COA memorandum had requested supporting documentation for P15.54 million in reported reward disbursements for successful surveillance and information-gathering operations.
While the prosecution noted that Boransing’s certification helps establish the physical occurrence and scope of the military’s youth activities, it maintained that DepEd officials who cited the document in their audit submissions must still explain how military activities justified the P15.54-million reward claims and fully account for the public funds disbursed.