Sara Duterte camp questioned over refusal to acknowledge P375-M confidential fund receipts

The House prosecution panel on Wednesday questioned the camp of Vice President Sara Duterte for refusing to acknowledge over 4,000 acknowledgment receipts covering the disbursement of P375 million in confidential funds, saying the move "does not make sense" since the receipts were submitted as evidence. “The Presiding Officer (Senator Francis Escudero) was right in saying that it is the right of the defense whether to accept the stipulation (proposed agreement) or not. But they (defense) did not stipulate concerning acknowledgement receipts which they submitted [to the Commission on Audit],” Kapunan said in a post-trial day press conference. “These acknowledgement receipts prove that they spent the confidential funds, and it states who received the money, how much was received, the purpose, the date and signature. That is their evidence. Bakit ayaw nila ipakita? (Why are they refusing to recognize that now?)" she added. Ahead of making the proposed stipulation, Kapunan was supposed to conduct direct examination on state auditor Xylene del Campo, who is expected to testify on the OVP’s liquidation documents on its 2023 confidential fund disbursements worth P375 million. Prosecutor Joel Chua agreed with Kapunan, saying that the defense looks like denying its own liquidation documents. “They are the source of these documents and yet they are not yet marked. Which is which?” Chua added.—LDF, GMA News