The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
Lead House prosecutor Gerville ‘Jinky Bitrics’ Luistro on Thursday maintained that Vice President Sara Duterte remains principally accountable for the confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd), citing government audit rules despite the expected testimonies of her former special disbursing officers (SDOs) before the Senate impeachment court.
Luistro said the position is supported by the testimony of Roderick Wamil, who told the impeachment court that the COA-DBM Joint Circular 2015-01 identifies the head of an agency as one of the officials principally accountable for confidential funds.
“Kahit magbago pa sila ng testimonya, klaro na ang naging position ng state auditor – the head of the agency remains to be one of the principally accountable parties,” Luistro said during an online briefing.
The lawmaker was referring to former OVP SDO Gina Acosta and former DepEd SDO Edward Fajarda, whom the prosecution intends to present as hostile witnesses. She said their testimonies are expected to be significant because they directly handled the confidential funds and have firsthand knowledge of how the money was processed.
Luistro also expressed hope that both witnesses would stand by the sworn statements they gave during the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability’s investigation in the 19th Congress.
During the House inquiry, Acosta testified that she turned over OVP confidential funds to then-OVP security officer Col. Raymund Dante Lachica after encashing the money upon Duterte’s instruction. Fajarda similarly testified that he handed DepEd confidential funds to then-DepEd security officer Col. Dennis Nolasco after encashment, also following Duterte’s directive.
Both former SDOs said they did not personally distribute the funds because the security officers handled the disbursement.
Their expected appearances before the impeachment court come after two former LandBank department managers testified that Acosta and Fajarda encashed a combined ₱612.5 million in confidential funds for the OVP and DepEd.
Wamil also testified that the liquidation reports and disbursement vouchers bore Duterte’s approval as head of the agencies. He cited audit findings involving unsupported reward payments, unauthorized expenditures, and the lack of documents showing the success of confidential or intelligence operations.