OVP explains P125-M spending in 11 days amid impeachment trial

MANILA, Philippines – The defense team of Vice President Sara Duterte reiterated its stance that there is an explanation for the P125-million confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) spent in just 11 days in late 2022, amid ongoing impeachment proceedings. Defense counsel and spokesperson Michael Poa told reporters, "For us, the 11 days, there’s an explanation for that; we can do a cross-examination for that, so we did not agree to the stipulation." The defense's statement came as they were asked about their refusal to stipulate on acknowledgment receipts from December 21 to 31, 2022, which cover 845 documents. Poa indicated that the defense has issues with these specific receipts. He clarified that for other documents submitted to the Commission on Audit (COA), excluding these acknowledgment receipts, and for audit observation memoranda (AOM) or notices of suspension, these are official COA documents that they do not dispute, unlike past issues with LandBank checks. Stipulations are "admissions of facts and of documents to avoid unnecessary proof" and are typically used to save time and avoid redundant discussions during trials. The impeachment trial is currently in the prosecution's presentation of evidence against Duterte for alleged misuse of confidential funds. This is the first of the four articles of impeachment filed by the House prosecution team. The prosecution had previously finished presenting evidence on the fourth allegation, which was grave threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his family. On Wednesday, prosecutors presented Roderick Wamil, a former state auditor from COA’s Intelligence and Confidential Funds Auditing Office, who testified about the auditing process for the OVP's confidential funds. Both parties have agreed to stipulate on several facts, including that the OVP received P125 million in confidential funds in December 2022, authorized by the President. They also agreed that the Department of Education (DepEd), which Duterte headed at the time, had a quarterly allocation of P37.5 million for confidential funds, and that both the OVP and DepEd withdrew their full quarterly allocations for the first to third quarters of 2023. Furthermore, documents submitted by the OVP and DepEd, such as disbursement vouchers and acknowledgment receipts, were signed by authorized signatories, and the signatures matched those of the officials. However, objections arose when prosecution counsel Lorna Kapunan presented receipts bearing the names of individuals allegedly receiving confidential funds from the OVP. This included individuals named Mary Grace Piattos and others such as Renan Piattos, Nova Santos, Patty Ting, and Andy Lim. Poa objected during the presentation, explaining that Kapunan added "color" to the facts stated. "With all due respect to Attorney Kapunan, because I don’t want to object if it’s unnecessary. But it seemed they were putting color to those names. Although she stated for the record that she’s just reading it the way it’s written. But to me, there’s color to it," Poa explained to reporters. The OVP's confidential funds issue first surfaced during budget deliberations in 2023 when COA confirmed the P125 million expenditure in just 11 days. The following year, COA disallowed P73 million of these funds due to the "non-submission of documents evidencing the success of information gathering/and or surveillance." An additional P3.5 million worth of furniture and equipment was also flagged for not specifying its use for confidential operations. A disallowance means that the auditing team has disapproved the auditing of a specific transaction, and the disallowed funds must be refunded by the concerned office. In April, COA Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit officer-in-charge Gloria Camora said the commission denied Duterte's appeal regarding the P73 million disallowance. When Kapunan presented the receipts on Monday, she also raised, through the COA witness, questions on how the funds were used, as well as the discrepancy in the dates. The funds were intended for 2022, while some of the receipts were dated 2023. "You’ll know when we do our cross-examination. You’ll know," said Poa when asked how the defense intends to explain this discrepancy. – Rappler.com