The House prosecution team is set to subject the Special Disbursing Officers (SDOs) who personally received confidential-fund cash for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd) to hostile-witness questioning on how the public funds were ultimately handled.
Private prosecutor and House prosecution legal spokesperson Atty. Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr. named Gina Acosta and Edward Fajarda as upcoming witnesses whose interests are deemed adverse to the prosecution’s case.
“Oo. Pag sinabi mo kasing hostile witness, ang ibig sabihin niyan, their interests are adverse to the party who called them as witnesses,” Tolosa said in a statement.
Acosta and Fajarda previously appeared before the House inquiry into the confidential funds, where they were identified as SDOs of the OVP and DepEd, respectively.
Their upcoming testimony in the impeachment trial follows evidence introduced by former LandBank managers regarding the withdrawal of confidential-fund cash.
“But abangan din natin yung mga magiging testimonya nila, no, because sila ang special disbursement officers, meaning sila ang… maalala natin yung mga sinabi ng Land Bank officer, sila yung tumanggap nung pera, no,” Tolosa said.
Through their testimony, prosecutors aim to map the complete trail of the funds from initial release and cash withdrawal to their alleged distribution and final liquidation. Tolosa highlighted that both Acosta and Fajarda sit at a critical juncture in this sequence, as the fundas were turned over directly to them as SDOs.
“So magandang marinig sa kanila, sila yung accountable doon, nung natanggap nila, saan nila dinala, saan nila ginamit,” Tolosa stressed.
Tolosa noted that since Acosta and Fajarda will be examined as hostile witnesses, the prosecution will be permitted to ask leading questions during direct examination despite the party calling them to the stand.
He added that the senator-judges will evaluate the credibility and weight of their testimony against the bank records, liquidation documents and Commission on Audit (COA) findings already admitted under Article I.