THE Commission on Audit (COA) has denied with finality Vice President Sara Duterte’s motion for reconsideration over the P73.287-million disallowance involving the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) confidential expenses in December 2022.
In COA Decision 2026-554 dated Oct. 5, the commission denied the motion filed by Duterte, OVP special disbursing officer Gina Acosta and chief accountant Julieta Villadelrey, and upheld its earlier Decision 2026-171 dated April 10.
The disallowance covered confidential expenses incurred from Dec. 21 to 31, 2022, out of the P125 million in confidential funds released to the OVP. The questioned amount included P69.787 million in informer rewards — P10 million in cash, P34.857 million in various goods and P24.93 million in medicines — and P3.5 million for tables, chairs, desktop computers and printers.
Duterte, OVP officials held liable
COA said the obligation to refund the disallowed confidential funds falls on those directly responsible for the transactions, including the approving, authorizing and certifying officers, and those who actually received the disallowed amount.
The commission identified Duterte as having approved the transaction, including the use of the cash advance; Acosta as the special disbursing officer who disbursed the cash advance; and Villadelrey as the official who certified that the supporting documents were complete and proper.
COA also rejected the officials’ claim of good faith, finding that their failure to comply with auditing regulations and the rules governing confidential funds constituted gross negligence.
Lack of proof for informer rewards
The commission found that the OVP failed to provide sufficient documentary proof of concrete results from the information-gathering and surveillance activities supposedly supporting the rewards.
It said the acknowledgment receipts, certifications and activity lists submitted by the OVP did not establish what information had been gathered or what results had been achieved from the activities.
It also found that some of the activities listed involved routine security and surveillance duties performed by salaried military and police personnel, who were not qualified to receive informer rewards under the rules governing confidential funds.
COA also questioned the use of confidential funds to purchase ordinary office equipment, noting that the OVP did not establish that using regular procurement funds would have compromised the confidentiality of the operations.
The commission said the activities cited by the OVP were related to governance and did not show a clear connection to confidential information-gathering or surveillance involving national security, peace and order, or the detection and prevention of illegal activities under the rules governing confidential funds.
The OVP said on Wednesday it had anticipated the possibility of the COA ruling and was preparing to respond through legal and institutional channels.
“The office has already anticipated the possibility of this decision and has prepared to respond through the appropriate legal and institutional channels,” the OVP said, adding that it has yet to receive a copy of the resolution.
Despite the development, the OVP said it remained committed to its mandate “to develop and promote programs that uplift the lives of the Filipino people.”
