House lead prosecutor and Batangas Rep. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro has called out major discrepancies in how Vice President Sara Duterte’s office accounted for its confidential funds, citing conflicting details between official liquidation records and testimony given before the Senate impeachment court.
In a press briefing, Luistro pointed out a direct contradiction regarding the alleged purchase of medical supplies. While paper liquidation receipts presented to oversight bodies recorded completed purchases and distributions of medicine, Office of the Vice President (OVP) Assistant Secretary Lemuel Ortonio testified that recipients actually received direct cash grants coupled with a commitment to purchase the items themselves.
“Pero iba yung nakalagay sa papel. Ang nakalagay sa documents nila sa AR: acknowledgement receipts, ibinili ng gamot. But if you will review his testimony, pera ang ibinigay,” Luistro said, emphasizing that reporting direct cash hand-outs as finished commodity purchases constitutes clear misrepresentation.
“At may undertaking ang recipient na ibibili ng gamot. What do we call that? We call that misrepresentation,” she added.
The lawmaker cautioned that Ortonio’s admission could carry legal weight as a declaration against self-interest, as it undermines the accuracy of the OVP’s formal financial disclosures. She urged the impeachment court to thoroughly scrutinize whether the submitted liquidation records reflected genuine disbursements or presented an altered version of actual events.
Framing the conflict as a fundamental breach of transparency in handling public funds, Luistro maintained that the core issue rests on basic truthfulness—whether official paperwork accurately captured how taxpayers’ money was spent.