Bank officials say encashment of large funds by VP's office 'unusual'

MANILA, Philippines – On the 10th day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s trial, two bank officials took the witness stand and said they found her office’s encashment of large funds “unusual.” Violeta Constantino and Nenita Camposano, former branch managers of the Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank), were the prosecution’s first witnesses as it began presenting its case on Duterte’s alleged misuse of confidential funds, on Wednesday, July 29. Constantino, who managed the Shaw Boulevard branch of Landbank that encashed P500 million in four checks during an eight-month period from December 2022 to July 2023, said it was the first time in her 32-year career in the banking industry to oversee the encashment of such a huge amount. “This (withdrawal) is unusual,” Constantino said. “In our personal opinion, for us in the banks, we wondered where the cash will be used.” Constantino said, however, that they didn’t find the transaction suspicious. “For this particular (encashment), we didn’t have doubts because we knew the transaction was legitimate,” she added. Constantino said that during the first encashment dated December 20, 2022, the funds were given to Office of the Vice President (OVP) special disbursing officer Gina Acosta and OVP assistant secretary Lemuel Ortonio, who put the cash in four gym bags. The testimony complements the previous affidavit of self-confessed bagman Ramil Madriaga, who claimed that Acosta and Duterte’s security officer Raymund Lachica met his team inside the Department of Education (DepEd) compound to hand them four bags with P30 million to P35 million each, which were subsequently delivered to various individuals. Madriaga believes the funds handed over to him were the P125 million in confidential funds of OVP for 2022, which were supposedly disbursed in less than 24 hours. Camposano, the second witness who managed the Landbank DepEd branch, also offered a similar testimony — how DepEd, which was once headed by Duterte, encashed large funds from three checks dated February 20, April 19, and July 20, 2023, respectively. Like Constantino, Camposano said Duterte’s office called them in advance to notify them about the intent to encash large amounts, prompting their bank branches to coordinate with their Landbank cash center to produce the necessary cash. The court will resume the trial on August 3, with the prosecution ready to present three witnesses: former and present state auditors Roderick Wamil and Xylene Mae del Campo, and House bureau director Marivic Pareja. – Rappler.com