House grills P125M fund trail in Sara impeachment hearing

House leaders deliberating on the third impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Z. Duterte zeroed in on the alleged trail of P125 million in confidential funds, citing details from the affidavit of Ramil Madriaga, described as the Vice President’s alleged bagman.

During the hearing of the House Committee on Justice, Manila Rep. Joel Chua said the transfer of funds to the Office of the Vice President may not immediately show irregularity.

“Madam Chair, let us assume na tama po iyung sinasabi ni Cong. Bong Suntay na tama po siya kanina. Eto nga pong mga pondo, kung papano po trina-transfer sa OVP. Eh talaga naman pong duon po wala naman tayong nakikita talagang pagkakamali pa. And in fact, trabaho po ito ng Vice President as head of agency. Mag-disburse, tama po ba? Lahat po ng mga dokumento pumirma [siya kung] ano pong dapat niyang pirmahan. Tama naman po iyun,” said Chua, chair of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability.

He cited paragraph 27 of the complaint, which states that the cash was placed into four traveling bags and brought to the OVP on the same day, after which the Vice President allegedly instructed Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta to release the P125 million to Col. Raymund Lachica, head of Duterte’s security group.

“Ang SDO po ay si Acosta. Ano po ang papel ni Col. Lachica dito po sa P125? And that is upon the instruction of the Vice President. Dito po ba wala po tayong nakikitang diperensya?” Chua asked.

He then referred to Madriaga’s affidavit, attached as Annex A of the complaint, which he said details how the funds were allegedly distributed.

Chua read portions stating that security officer Col. Dennis Nolasco allegedly instructed Madriaga to meet at Ultra in Pasig City, where Lachica later arrived in Department of Education vehicles carrying four duffel bags containing millions of pesos.

According to the affidavit, one bag was delivered to “a mayor in Laguna,” another to a comedy bar in the Timog area, and another placed inside a vehicle parked at the Office of the Ombudsman compound.

Chua also cited claims that Madriaga was given a white Toyota Vios with around P80 million inside, which was later parked at SM Megamall and retrieved by an unidentified person.

House Justice chair Rep. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro asked Chua to clarify the identities of Nolasco and Lachica.

“They are both. I think security details of the Vice President,” Chua replied.

Mamamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima said the affidavit supports the allegation that the P125 million did not go to its intended purpose.

“Pinapakita po na ‘yung P125 million na ‘yon hindi napunta sa dapat puntahan ng such a sensitive funds as confidential or intelligence funds. We can actually say that this was simply appropriated by VP Sara for her personal gain,” De Lima alleged.

“There was no report, neither the Vice President nor the OVP reported any loss of the P125 million confidential funds dahil nga napunta sa mga ganyan. So that is actually personal gain,” she added.

De Lima also discussed possible legal theories.

“Gusto ko lang pong sabihin at this point na tungkol naman po sa plunder yes, I agree that it’s more of a conspiracy so it’s a better or a yes, it’s a better theory than just plunder because plunder committed through conspiracy. Let us remember po na pang malversation of public funds, its plunder committed through a series of acts of malversation, so a series of acts of malversation can lead to plunder specially if it meets the monetary threshold of P50 million or more than P50 million,” she said.

The committee continued its deliberations on the first ground of the impeachment complaint.