The House prosecution panel on Tuesday said the rapid encashment and disbursement of the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) P125 million confidential funds, along with inconsistencies in supporting documents, indicate an alleged effort to misuse or misappropriate the allocation.
House impeachment trial spokesperson and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said the speed with thich the confidential funds were encashed and spent shoul dbe viewed alongside the documentary deficiencies identified during the Commission on Audit (COA) review.
“Ibig sabihin, kung titingnan natin ‘yung pag-encash nito na unusual, na madaliang in-encash, madalian talagang ginastos din ito. Dahil madaliang ginastos, hindi tugma-tugma yung dates, at hindi tama ‘yung kanilang binigay ng mga documentary evidence to prove that the confidential funds was used in compliance with the Joint Circular ng COA,” Alonto Adiong said.
Former officials of the Land Bank of the Philippines had earlier testified that the OVP’s P125-million Treasury check was encashed in full after prior coordination with a bank branch to prepare the unusually large amount of cash.
House prosecutor and Manila Rep. Joel Chua said some acknowledgment receipts submitted to justify the OVP’s confidential fund expenditures in December 2022 have dates from periods when the office no longer had confidential funds.
“Pero yung ginagamit nilang justification para sa December 2022 ay nasa last quarter ng December 2023. So dito pa lang makikita mo na ang problema,” Chua said.
“Pangalawa, mayroon pa rin doon na ginamit na justification na ang petsa ay November 2022. Etong buwan na ito wala pang confidential fund dahil ang confidential fund, uulitin ko, ay para sa pechang December 2022,” he added.
The prosecution team said the discrepancies surfaced during a broader audit review that examined the OVP’s planning documents, liquidation reports and supporting records for confidential fund disbursements.
“Doon sa physical and financial plan, ang sabi ng COA, hindi siya compliant dahil, unang-una, hindi specific at hindi particular kung anong confidential activities ang gagawin nila,” Alonto Adiong said.
He argued that the lack of specific details in the planning documents made it impossible for auditors to determine whether the released funds were consistent with the reported accomplishments.
“So klaro po ‘yun, ‘iyun po ‘yung na-establish natin talaga na meron talagang effort in attempt to really misuse or misappropriate the P125M Confidential Funds intended to be used with for the last quarter of 2022,” Alonto Adiong said.