DAY 11: COA AUDITOR FLAGS PROBLEMS IN OVP CONFIDENTIAL-FUND RECORDS

The Senate impeachment court began examining the audit records behind Article I of the case against Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday.

Article I accuses Duterte of misusing ₱612.5 million in confidential funds. The amount covers ₱500 million released to the Office of the Vice President and ₱112.5 million released to the Department of Education while she headed both offices.

Monday’s testimony focused on the first ₱125-million OVP cash advance, released in December 2022. Roderick Wamil, a prosecution witness, served in the Commission on Audit’s Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office from September 2014 to February 2024.

The court adjourned at about 2:30 p.m. while the prosecution was still questioning Wamil. His direct examination will continue on Tuesday, and the defense has yet to cross-examine him.

THE DEFENSE REFUSED TO ACCEPT THE 11-DAY TIMELINE

Prosecutor Lorna Kapunan asked the defense to agree that the OVP received the ₱125 million on December 20, 2022 and disbursed it from December 21 to December 31.

Defense lawyer Michael Poa answered, “No stipulation.” He agreed that the OVP received a ₱125-million confidential-fund allocation in 2022, then added that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. had approved its release.

Kapunan accepted that addition. The stipulation placed the presidential approval for the fund release on the record.

The 11-day figure became public during House budget deliberations in September 2023. Then-Representative Stella Quimbo said it came from the liquidation report submitted by the OVP to COA.

COA later issued a Notice of Disallowance covering ₱73.28 million from the cash advance. The OVP has disputed the description that it spent the entire ₱125 million within 11 days.

The defense’s refusal means the prosecution must establish the timeline through the documents and Wamil’s testimony. The senator-judges have made no ruling on that dispute.

WAMIL SAID THE OVP PLAN DID NOT LIST SPECIFIC CONFIDENTIAL ACTIVITIES

Wamil testified that the OVP’s physical and financial plan failed to identify the confidential programs, activities, and projects for which the money would be used.

Item 4.2 of Joint Circular No. 2015-01 requires the plan to show the proposed allocation for each program, activity, and project. Wamil said the missing entries left no identified confidential activity against which the proposed disbursements could be checked.

The plan was dated December 13, 2022 and carried Duterte’s signature under “approved by.” Wamil said the notation showed that the signer approved the contents of the document.

He also identified a date discrepancy in a separate OVP certification. It was dated January 2022, even though it concerned the fourth-quarter 2022 cash advance, and it was notarized in January 2023.

WAMIL’S TABULATION SHOWED ₱150,000 MORE IN RECEIPTS THAN THE CASH ADVANCE

Wamil testified that his 19-page tabulation of the acknowledgment receipts reached ₱125.15 million. That was ₱150,000 higher than the ₱125 million stated in the OVP accomplishment report.

The annex to COA’s Notice of Suspension showed ₱25.66 million supported by acknowledgment receipts dated December 2023, one year after the covered period. Another ₱3.27 million was supported by receipts carrying no date.

Among the documents presented was a ₱70,000 acknowledgment receipt under the name “Mary Grace Piattos” for medicines. Wamil also identified a ₱85,000 receipt under “Nova Santos” for various goods.

Several other receipts carried December 2023 dates even though they were submitted in support of the December 2022 cash advance. Wamil said the dates fell outside the period covered by that cash advance.

WAMIL SAID SOME EXPENSES WERE NOT ALLOWED UNDER THE RULES

Wamil identified ₱40 million in medical and food assistance and ₱10 million in incentives or travel connected with confidential operations.

He testified that these entries were outside the confidential expenses allowed under Item 4.8 of the joint circular. Wamil also said the OVP did not submit records showing that rewards paid to informers led to successful information-gathering or surveillance work.

Wamil also discussed ₱3.5 million spent on tables, chairs, desktop computers, and printers. He said the submitted records did not connect those purchases to confidential operations.

CONFIDENTIAL FUNDS STILL REQUIRE SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

Wamil said the OVP submitted acknowledgment receipts for several transactions without sales invoices, official receipts, or other supporting records.

He explained that secrecy applies to the confidential activity for which the money is used. In his audit reading, it does not automatically conceal an ordinary supplier’s identity or remove the accounting requirements for public funds.

Poa asked the court to strike part of that answer, arguing that Wamil was not competent to give it. Presiding officer Francis Escudero overruled the objection and allowed Wamil to explain how he assessed the records as the auditor who reviewed them.

DUTERTE SIGNED THE PLAN, LIQUIDATION REPORT, AND CERTIFICATION

Wamil identified Duterte’s signature on the physical and financial plan and the liquidation report for the ₱125-million cash advance.

A separate OVP certification carried her signature beneath the word “attested.” Wamil said the notation indicated that the signer was confirming or verifying the certification’s contents.

The prosecution used the signatures to connect Duterte to the approval and certification of the documents presented in court. The senator-judges made no finding that the signatures proved she prepared every receipt, knew about each alleged defect, or committed an impeachable offense.

WAMIL SAID DUTERTE WAS THE ONLY VP HE AUDITED WITH CONFIDENTIAL FUNDS

Wamil testified that Duterte was the only vice president with a confidential-fund appropriation during his assignment at COA’s specialized audit office.

He said former vice presidents Jejomar Binay and Leni Robredo had no confidential-fund appropriations during the years covered by his service from 2014 to 2024. Duterte was also the only education secretary whose department had confidential funds during that period, according to Wamil.

Poa stressed that the testimony covered only Wamil’s own tenure at the audit office. It was not presented as a complete history of confidential-fund appropriations before 2014.

ESCUDERO CONFIRMED THAT THE BIR RECORDS ARRIVED ON JULY 30

Escudero informed the senator-judges that the Bureau of Internal Revenue had submitted the tax records of Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio, after receiving the presidential authorization required under the National Internal Revenue Code.

The Clerk of Court received the submission on July 30. Escudero said copies would be made available to the parties after the submission was completed.

Those records concern a later article involving the allegation of unexplained wealth and were not part of Wamil’s testimony on Monday. Escudero also gave BDO Unibank and Security Bank until August 13 to complete parts of their responses to the court’s subpoenas.

THE SENATE HAS NOT YET RULED ON ARTICLE I

Monday’s hearing placed the OVP’s planning, liquidation, and supporting documents before the impeachment court through the confidential-fund auditor who reviewed them.

Wamil identified missing activity descriptions, receipts with dates outside the covered period, undated receipts, expenses he considered unsupported or outside the allowed list, and a ₱150,000 difference between the receipts and the accomplishment report.

His statements remain prosecution testimony. The defense will have its opportunity to challenge his reading of the joint circular, the records he examined, and the conclusions he drew from them.

The impeachment court has made no finding that Duterte misused the funds or committed an impeachable offense. Wamil’s direct examination is scheduled to continue when the trial resumes at 10 a.m. on Tuesday.