OVP's confidential funds used for medicines as rewards, Hontiveros questions

Allegations have surfaced that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) may have used its confidential funds to purchase medicines as rewards for informants, a practice questioned by Senator Risa Hontiveros. During the 13th day of the impeachment trial, Commission on Audit (COA) prosecution witness Roderick Wamil testified that part of the OVP's P125 million confidential fund allocation for 2022 was used to buy medicines for informants. Among the recipients mentioned in acknowledgment receipts submitted to COA was Mary Grace Piattos, who received P70,000. "You mentioned that medicines were given as rewards. So, based on your experience and expertise, is it normal for medicines to be given in exchange for intelligence information?" Hontiveros asked Wamil. The state auditor responded that such a practice of paying with medicines is not normal and is unprecedented for the OVP. This prompted Hontiveros to remark, "Do informants mostly have illnesses?" Wamil replied, "I wouldn't know." Hontiveros pressed Wamil further, asking if the medicines were for conditions like asthma, hypertension, or diabetes, to which Wamil replied no. She also inquired if the P70,000 received by Piattos was in the form of medicines and if Piattos suffered from any ailment. Wamil stated he could not know because the OVP's liquidation reports were incomplete, and their auditing was based solely on what the OVP submitted. In a separate press conference, Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V of La Union expressed concern over the testimony, stating, "I am worried about the informants who received confidential funds. Are they all sickly because they are being paid with medicines?" He added, "If I were in their shoes, I wouldn't receive medicine as payment. I would want compensation because I am providing important, very crucial information." COA has already issued a Notice of Disallowance (ND) to the OVP for the disbursement of P73 million out of its P125 million confidential fund allocation in 2022. This was due to the OVP's failure to submit documents proving the success of information gathering and/or surveillance activities to support acknowledgments receipts for around P69 million of payments for rewards in cash, various goods, and medicines to informants. The ND on the P73 million confidential fund of the OVP was issued in 2024 and affirmed by the COA in 2026. Wamil's testimony is relevant to Article 1 of the impeachment charges, which accuses the Vice President of committing impeachable offenses due to the systematic misappropriation and irregular liquidation of confidential funds amounting to P500 million released to the OVP and P112.5 million to the Department of Education (DepEd) during her tenure as Education chief. — RSJ, GMA News