THE Office of the Vice President (OVP) failed to report how it spent P125 million in confidential funds in just 11 days, an auditor of the Commission on Audit (COA) said Monday during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
Taking the stand on the 11th day of the trial as a prosecution witness, COA auditor Roderick Wamil said the Physical and Financial Plan and accomplishment report submitted by the OVP failed to enumerate the confidential activities funded by the cash advance, while liquidation records showed the amount intended for the entire fourth quarter of 2022 was disbursed from Dec. 21 to 31, or just 11 days.
He also said that Joint Circular 2015-01 limits confidential fund expenditures to specified purposes, including intelligence gathering, operational supplies, safe houses, vehicle rentals and qualified rewards to non-employee informers.
“It was noted that the Office of the Vice President did not itemize the specific confidential activities they undertook,” Wamil said in Filipino, adding that itemizing those activities was necessary to determine whether the reported expenses were among those allowed under the joint circular.
He also attested that the OVP failed to submit documentary evidence of payments required under Item 4.12 of the joint circular.
Item 4.2 requires confidential- and intelligence-fund allocations to be supported by a Physical and Financial Plan identifying the proposed amount for each program, activity and project. The plan serves as the basis for subsequent disbursements.
“It is necessary since under Item 4.2 of the Joint Circular, it shall be the basis for disbursements of their confidential fund,” Wamil said.
Because no specific confidential activities were enumerated, the auditor said the corresponding expected outcomes and physical targets were also incomplete.
The plan contained general performance indicators but did not state the number of areas covered, Wamil said.
Asked whether the document identified the provinces, cities or other specific locations where surveillance had supposedly been conducted, Wamil said no.
“It was not indicated, based on this document,” he said.
The prosecution presented the testimony under Article I, which accuses Duterte of misusing, misappropriating and irregularly liquidating confidential funds of the OVP and Department of Education.
Wamil’s testimony established his audit observations concerning the plan and Duterte’s approval of its contents.
It did not by itself determine whether the confidential activities occurred or whether the deficiencies constituted impeachable misconduct.
Those questions remain for the impeachment court to decide after the defense has cross-examined the witness and presented its evidence.
Wamil emphasized that Item 4.2 required more than a general description of intended surveillance.
He further pointed to a discrepancy in the disbursement voucher, which described the cash advance as covering calendar year 2022, although the Physical and Financial Plan identified only the fourth quarter as the implementation period.
He said this did not comply with Item 6.1.5, which requires the implementation period to be clearly stated.
He clarified that the deficiencies did not by themselves prove that no confidential activities took place, but said the records submitted to COA’s Intelligence and Confidential Fund Audit Office did not provide the information and supporting evidence needed to verify whether the P125 million was spent for allowable confidential expenses.
“After the evaluation of those documents, since I noted that the documents are not compliant with the requirements of Joint Circular 2015-01, I drafted an Audit Observation Memorandum,” Wamil said.
Mary Grace Piattos
At the trial, private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan presented an acknowledgment receipt submitted by the OVP bearing the name “Mary Grace Piattos” to the Senate impeachment court.
Wamil testified and identified the document as one of 845 acknowledgment receipts he examined during his audit of the OVP’s P125-million confidential fund spent from Dec. 21 to 31, 2022.
Wamil confirmed the receipt showed that “Mary Grace Piattos” received P70,000 listed as a “payment of rewards — medicines.”
He pointed out that the entry lacked sufficient supporting documentation required under Joint Circular 2015-01 for informer rewards, noting that the receipt alone failed to prove the success of information-gathering or surveillance activities.
As the Philippine Statistics Authority has confirmed that it has no record of a birth, marriage or death certificate for a person named “Mary Grace Piattos,” the prosecution points to this document as proof that the OVP fabricated acknowledgment receipts to justify the spending of P125 million in confidential funds in December 2022.
