Sara Duterte trial: Where did P612.5M in confidential funds go?

MANILA, Philippines – The Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) encashed P612.5 million in confidential funds over six months. Now, in an impeachment trial, a new chapter has opened, asking: Were those funds spent on the right things? Veteran lawyer Lorna Kapunan, private counsel for the House prosecution panel, probed state auditor Roderick Wamil on Monday, August 3, about COA's earlier flagged shortcomings in how the OVP spent its confidential funds in the final quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023. Kapunan and the prosecution are expected to tackle the second and third quarters of 2023 when Duterte had access to these funds on Tuesday, August 4. Wamil, who admitted to feeling "anxious" testifying before the impeachment court, was part of COA's Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (ICFAO) from September 2014 to February 2024, a decade spanning three vice presidents and several education chiefs. Under Kapunan’s prodding, Wamil put on record that it was only under Duterte that his office audited the OVP and DepEd, as predecessors former vice presidents Jejomar Binay and Leni Robredo, and previous education secretaries, had not been given access to confidential funds. Confidential and Intelligence funds are covered under Joint Circular No. 2015-01, which sets limits on their use and how they are audited by COA. While the specifics of the funds’ use are not public due to their nature – for programs touching on national security – the joint circular spells out the requirements agencies must adhere to in liquidating their use. “Strict compliance” with the joint circular’s use was the bare minimum. “What is involved is public funds, so we have to be strict on [the implementation of] rules to prevent misuse of funds,” Wamil told Kapunan in a mix of English and Filipino. COA’s ICFAO, based on Wamil’s testimony, found the OVP falling short of “strict compliance” in auditing millions of confidential funds in the last three months of 2022 and the first three months of 2023. Fifteen boxes containing documents related to Duterte’s confidential funds lined the tables of the prosecution. More boxes surrounded Wamil as he sat on the witness seat. The first article of impeachment is related to Duterte’s alleged misuse of confidential funds – over P500 million under OVP and P112.5 million under DepEd. Not the speed, but the direction In briefings throughout the day, spokespeople for the prosecution panel highlighted that they were not just questioning the speed at which money was used but also where it went. Based on documents submitted by the OVP to COA, P125 million in the last quarter of 2022 was used up in just 11 days. “‘Yung question dito is napatunayan ba ng OVP na itong P125 million, nagamit nila para sa mga allowed purposes under the joint circular? Napunta ba ito sa mga intended recipients, supposedly? Malaki siyang katanungan: Paano mo naubos ang P125 million in 11 days?” said prosecution legal spokesperson lawyer Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr. in a midday briefing with reporters. (The question here is if the OVP has proven that the P125 million was used for allowed purposes under the joint circular. Did the money go to the supposed intended recipients? It’s a big question: How did you use up P125 million in 11 days?) Kabataan Representative Renee Co, another prosecution spokesperson, said there was also a question of the “physical impossibility” of spending that huge an amount – in accordance with the joint circular – within 11 days. But in an hours-long trial of asking Wamil to go through specific provisions of the joint circular and explaining the painstaking process through which COA’s ICFAO audited the OVP’s funds, it was the presentation of familiar names that sparked excitement – and elicited more than a few laughs – from even the crowd inside the plenary hall. One by one, Kapunan asked Wamil to verify and comment on acknowledgement receipts, covering amounts from P70,000 to P295,000, issued by supposed recipients of the OVP’s intelligence funds: Mary Grace Piattos Renan Piattos Nova Santos Mico Harina Janice Marie Revilla Patty Ting Andy Lim Alejandro Pikit Feonna Biong Sisfrunio Balsac Gabriel Bisaya Kapunan quipped more than once in her direct, lightly poking fun at the names Andy Lim (a homophone for the Filipino phrase “ang dilim,” meaning “very dark”) and Alejandro Pikit (pikit means eyes closed in Filipino). Her levity prompted Duterte’s counsel, Michael Poa, to object, claiming she was putting “color” into the names of the supposed recipients. Presiding officer Senator Francis Escudero chided Kapunan, reminding the veteran lawyer that she understood what Poa meant in his objection. Of the names listed, only Revilla, Ting, and Biong had receipts issued in December 2022, within the timeframe the joint circular necessitated. The rest were issued a whole year later, in December 2023, and at least one in November 2023 – even before confidential funds for Duterte’s OVP were released. House prosecutor Joel Chua, answering reporters’ questions after the trial, said the point of presenting the acknowledgment receipts – including the names Kapunan poked fun at – was not to allege these persons were fictitious but to flag that those documents, among others, prompted COA to issue an audit observation memo formally flagging these deficiencies. Before the impeachment court suspended session, Wamil flagged for the first quarter of 2023 what COA had also flagged for the final quarter of 2022: the OVP was lacking in paperwork, making it difficult for COA to ascertain that funds were used properly. Under the joint circular, the OVP should have declared its planned activities and projects, where the confidential funds would be used, through a “physical and financial plan.” The plan should also include self-declared targets. The OVP did not provide specifics in its submission to COA for that “physical and financial plan,” Wamil said. Wamil’s disclosures are not new. Investigations in the House of Representatives first made public – and viral memes – the likes of Mary Grace Piattos. COA had also earlier ordered the OVP to return P73 million of its confidential funds in 2022 and P375 million for 2023 for apparent violations of the same joint circular.