Malacañang stated on Tuesday that the testimony of former Office of the Vice President (OVP) special disbursing officer Gina Acosta before the impeachment court confirms that Vice President Sara Duterte was directly in control of the allocation and release of her office’s P125 million in confidential funds.
Speaking at a briefing, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro pointed out that Acosta admitted the command to hand over the full P125 million allocation to retired Army Colonel Raymund Lachica, her security officer, originated directly from the Vice President.
“This means that the person in command and in control is none other than VP Sara,” Castro said. She added that physical handling of the funds by the disbursing officer was unnecessary to establish authority, as the money could simply be disbursed through executive command.
Castro noted that Acosta repeatedly testified to serving merely as an intermediary who relayed information to Lachica, who executed the confidential ground activities.
While emphasizing that the impeachment court holds the ultimate authority to evaluate the evidence for a conviction, Castro called for a deeper inquiry by an independent body into Lachica’s specific role and the overall expenditure of the funds. She suggested that the Office of the Ombudsman or another neutral agency conduct a thorough investigation to determine whether any wrongdoing or collusion took place.