Sara Duterte Impeachment Trial: Witness Testifies on Use of Confidential Funds

Malacañang on Wednesday said claims on the alleged arrest of Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa are a diversion created by the allies of Vice President Sara Duterte to divert the public's attention from the developments in her impeachment trial. In a message to reporters, Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro urged the public to identify the sources of the claims and their possible motives before believing them. "Mapapansin na walang laman at walang konteksto ang pinapakalat nina Atty. Bondoc at Roque about Sen. Bato. 'Timing' ang ginagawa nila... para matabunan ang mga naisiwalat ng COA patungkol sa mga walang resibo na paggasta milyong-milyong pisong confidential funds ni VP Sara sa OVP at DEPED," she said. (What Atty. Bondoc and Roque are spreading about Sen. Bato is baseless and devoid of context. Timing is what they are doing… to overshadow the COA's revelations regarding the undocumented disbursement of millions of pesos in confidential funds by Vice President Sara at the OVP and DepEd.) Prosecution witness Roderick Wamil, a former state auditor of the Commission on Audit-Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (COA-ICFAO), on Wednesday said that the joint circular is “silent” on whether the use of aliases for the receipt of confidential funds is allowed or not. Wamil said this when asked by Senator-Judge Bam Aquino on the 13th day of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, if the use of codenames or aliases for recipients is permitted by the COA. “Based on the provisions of the joint circular, it is neither allowed nor prohibited since silent po ang joint circular as to that,” Wamil answered. Lawyer Roderick Wamil, a former state auditor of the Commission on Audit-Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (COA-ICFAO), is set to return to the witness stand for the third consecutive day to continue his testimony in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. Wamil, a witness presented by the House prosecution panel, is expected to answer clarificatory questions and interjections of Senator-Judges on Wednesday, the 13th day of the trial. This is in reference to Article 1 of the articles of impeachment about Duterte’s alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds---P500 million of which was from the Office of the Vice President (OVP), and P112.5 million from the Department of Education (DepEd). Once Wamil is formally dismissed by the impeachment court, the prosecution will present a new witness---COA-ICFAO state auditor Xylene Del Campo. But impeachment court spokesperson Regie Tongol said that Campo will be testifying on fewer matters as compared to Wamil, based on the purpose indicated on the pre-trial order and pre-trial brief of the prosecution. Lawyer Roderick Wamil, a former state auditor with the Commission on Audit’s Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (COA-ICFAO), returned to the witness stand on Tuesday to testify on the disbursement of more than P200 million in confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) during Vice President Sara Duterte’s tenure as education secretary. Prosecution During the prosecution's presentation of evidence, Wamil testified that at least P129 million of the OVP's P250-million confidential fund allocation for the first and second quarters of 2023 lacked supporting documents proving that the disbursements were made for their intended purposes, in violation of Joint Circular No. 2015-01 governing the use of confidential and intelligence funds. According to Wamil, the unsupported disbursements included purchases of medicines and food assistance, as well as the payment of rewards and incentives for travel related to confidential operations, whose authenticity could not be verified due to the absence of the required documentation. Defense In response, Poa presented a letter showing that Vice President Sara Duterte was not the only vice president to receive confidential funds, noting that then Vice President Jejomar Binay's office was also granted a confidential fund allocation in 2014. Poa argued that this contradicted Wamil's testimony that only Duterte had been given confidential funds as vice president. However, Binay's 2014 confidential fund allocation predated Joint Circular No. 2015-01, which was issued in 2015 and established the guidelines governing the use, liquidation, and audit of confidential and intelligence funds. Also on Tuesday, Poa asked the Senate impeachment court to strike Kapunan's scam comments off the record for being "out of line." His objection was sustained by Senate impeachment court Presiding Officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero.