MANILA, Philippines — The defense team of Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday highlighted a Commission on Audit (COA) credit notice covering the Department of Education’s confidential funds, saying the issuance showed the agency’s liquidation had been allowed in audit.
Defense lawyer Michael Wesley Poa said the credit notice was issued in August 2024 for DepEd’s use of confidential funds in the first and second quarters.
“A credit notice simply means that after evaluation by the Commission on Audit, the liquidation report, the submissions, and the AOM, they allowed in audit the use of confidential funds,” Poa said during a post-trial press briefing in Senate.
Poa said this meant COA “did not see an issue in the use of confidential funds” at that point, while acknowledging that the credit notice could still be reopened if material new evidence emerges within the prescribed period.
He also pushed back against treating the notice of disallowance involving the Office of the Vice President’s confidential funds as a final finding, saying the OVP remains within the 180-day period to seek a review or appeal before COA.
“So, it’s not that the OVP did not respond and it’s just that it’s still within the period within which the OVP can respond,” Poa said.
Poa said the OVP may still seek reconsideration and eventually appeal to the Supreme Court, adding, “There’s no final decision as long as there’s a remedy.”
He said the defense would address the notice of disallowance and the alleged chain-of-custody issue involving the documents during its presentation of evidence before the impeachment court.
Poa stressed that the defense had long raised the existence of the DepEd credit notice and said the public should consider it alongside the fact that COA rules allow such a notice to be reopened if material new evidence emerges.
