MORE questionable or fictitious names linked to confidential fund spending could emerge as a Commission on Audit (COA) witness resumes her testimony in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, House Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V said on Sunday.
The prosecution has placed on the witness stand COA Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (Icfao) Supervising State Auditor Xylene Mae del Campo, who is focusing on the audit of confidential funds used by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd), including whether recipients listed in acknowledgment receipts can be verified.
"There is no denying that Mary Grace Piatos is truly the most prominent one, but the others — like Chippy McDonald and Miggy Mango — might be next in line,” Ortega said in Filipino in a radio interview.
“Let’s stay tuned, as our prosecutors have their own strategies for this; I’m sure they will discuss it,” he added.
The issue gained attention after acknowledgment receipts submitted to liquidate confidential funds listed names such as "Mary Grace Piattos," which authorities later said do not appear in government records.
Other names previously flagged include "Milky Secuya," "Kokoy Villamin," and "Xiaomi Ocho."
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), 1,322 of the 1,992 names submitted for verification from the OVP's P500 million confidential fund allocation had no matching birth records, along with 405 of 677 names linked to DepEd's P112.5 million confidential fund.
Ortega said the prosecution will bank on Del Campo's testimony to determine whether confidential fund transactions were properly documented and who actually received the money.
The Senate impeachment court is expected to continue hearing Del Campo's testimony as the prosecution tries to trace the use of confidential funds and verify the identities listed in liquidation documents.
House prosecution counsel Benjamin Tolosa said Del Campo will testify on the next stages of the audit of confidential funds, covering matters beyond the personal knowledge of Roderick Wamil, who conducted the audit on the DepEd and OVP.
Del Campo is expected to testify on the issuance of notices of disallowance and other audit actions after Wamil left the COA's Intelligence and Confidential Fund Audit Office.
“There are questions for him, particularly regarding the notice of disallowance. He states that he no longer has personal knowledge of the matter because he has already left the position,” Tolosa said in Filipino in a separate virtual briefing over the weekend.
“So, his successor, Ms. Xylene, will be the one to continue that account,” he said.
When he testified before the impeachment court, Wamil discussed the audit procedures and documents he personally handled, but said he could not talk about later developments because they occurred after he was reassigned.
Two former aides of Vice President Sara Duterte who handled the disbursement of confidential funds are expected to testify this week.
The impeachment court granted the House prosecution's request to present former special disbursing officers (SDOs) Gina Acosta of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Edward Fajarda of the Department of Education (DepEd) as its next witnesses.
The P612.5 million under scrutiny consists of P500 million in confidential funds released to the OVP for the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first three quarters of 2023, and P112.5 million released to the DepEd for the first three quarters of 2023 while Duterte was education secretary.
During the House inquiry, Acosta testified that she turned over OVP confidential funds to then-OVP security officer Col. Raymund Dante Lachica after encashing them, on Duterte's instruction.
Fajarda similarly testified that he turned over DepEd confidential funds to then-DepEd security officer Col. Dennis Nolasco after encashment, also on Duterte's instruction.
Both SDOs testified that they did not personally distribute the confidential funds because the security officers handled the disbursement.
Former LandBank branch manager Violeta Constantino testified that Acosta encashed four Treasury checks worth P125 million each, totaling P500 million, for the OVP in December 2022, February 2023, April 2023, and July 2023.
Former LandBank branch manager Nenita Camposano, meanwhile, testified that Fajarda encashed three Treasury checks worth P37.5 million each, totaling P112.5 million, for the DepEd in February, April and July 2023.
