VP's Office Failed to Substantiate Confidential Fund Use, Prosecution Claims

The prosecution panel in the Philippine House of Representatives stated that the camp of Vice President Sara Duterte failed to poke holes in the testimony of prosecution witness, state auditor and lawyer Roderick Wamil. Wamil testified that the Vice President’s office disbursed P129 million of confidential funds without documentary evidence in 2023. Similar issues were raised regarding P112.5 million in confidential fund disbursements to the Department of Education (DepEd) during Duterte's tenure as DepEd chief in 2023, which also reportedly lacked supporting documents. House private prosecutor Benjamin Tolosa, Jr. noted that "a lot of the points put forward during the direct examination were not discussed during the cross examination." This included multiple certifications issued by the Vice President as head of the agency for the confidential fund liquidation of the OVP and DepEd. "They (the defense) didn’t even touch upon this issue, kaya maliwanag hindi ito nabutasan," Tolosa said, meaning "Clearly, they were not able to poke holes on the testimony of our witness." "They did not discuss if there was indeed, a purchase for medical supplies [using confidential funds], or how they were able to use P125 million of their 2022 confidential fund in 11 days, which include rental of safehouses amounting around P2 million per day. Nasaan ‘yung official receipts? Nasaan ‘yung sales invoice? Kasi ‘yun ang kailangan mong patunayan," Tolosa added. Prosecutor Terry Ridon stated that Wamil's testimony clearly established that confidential funds disbursed by the OVP and DepEd under the Vice President were not properly accounted for. Ridon cited Item 8.3 of Joint Circular No. 2015-01, which governs the release, use, and audit of confidential and intelligence funds, stating that "failure to liquidate public funds upon formal demand may create a rebuttable presumption that the unaccounted money was converted to personal use or benefit." "The burden of evidence is already on the defense. The presumption exists today and for as long as it is unrebutted," Ridon said. Furthermore, Ridon pointed out that the Notice of Disallowance issued by the Commission on Audit (COA) on the OVP's disbursement of P73 million of its confidential funds in 2022 is already a final decision. Ridon described the situation as "a scam, similar to the agricultural fund scam. It is similar to the Napoles scam," referring to the fertilizer fund scam, which was a major corruption controversy that plagued the Arroyo administration. Wamil is a prosecution witness for Article 1, 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 released to the Department of Education (DepEd) during her tenure as Education chief. —VAL, GMA News