Vice President Sara Duterte's defense on Monday traced the Office of the Vice President's controversial 11-day spending of P125 million in confidential funds to the government's own approval and release process, disputing the prosecution's claim that the rapid disbursement signaled irregularities.

Opening the defense's case before the Senate impeachment court, lead counsel Sheila Sison said the confidential funds were released to the OVP only on 20 December 2022, after passing through a series of approvals by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and Malacañang, leaving the office just 11 days before the fiscal year closed.

"The confidential funds were nonetheless released to the OVP on December 20, 2022 under this documented approval process," Sison told senator-judges.

According to the defense, then Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman endorsed the request for confidential funds to then Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on 18 October 2022.

Malacañang approved the recommendation on 28 November after which the DBM issued the Special Allotment Release Order on 13 December before releasing the funds a week later.

House prosecutors have consistently argued that the legality of granting the confidential funds is not in dispute. Instead, they contend that how the money was spent and liquidated violated government auditing rules.

The Articles of Impeachment cite findings by the Commission on Audit (COA) questioning P73.28 million in confidential fund expenditures made between 21 and 31 December 2022.

Auditors found deficiencies in supporting documents, including acknowledgment receipts, questioned recipients and other records that they said failed to comply with regulations governing confidential expenses.

The COA Commission Proper later affirmed the notice of disallowance and directed accountable officers to refund the amount.

Those audit findings have become one of the prosecution's principal pillars in seeking Duterte's conviction.

Sison, however, argued that the audit findings cannot yet be treated as final proof of wrongdoing.

She told the impeachment court that the COA ruling remains subject to judicial review, noting that Duterte has sought reconsideration and may still elevate the case to the Supreme Court under the Rules of Court if necessary.

She likewise argued that neither the notice of disallowance nor the commission's decision expressly concluded that the Vice President had misused confidential funds.

Constitutional battle

Beyond the dispute over confidential funds, Sison framed the impeachment proceedings as a broader constitutional contest, invoking the Supreme Court's rulings that voided the House of Representatives' earlier attempt to impeach Duterte.

She cited the High Court's 25 July 2025 decision in Duterte v. House of Representatives, which unanimously declared the previous Articles of Impeachment void after finding that the House committed grave abuse of discretion in initiating the proceedings.

She likewise referred to the Court's January 2026 resolution denying with finality the House's motion for reconsideration.

"This is not the first time that members of the House of Representatives have attempted to remove the Vice President in a manner not compliant with the Constitution," Sison said.

Quoting from the High Court's ruling, Sison reminded senator-judges that while impeachment is an indispensable constitutional mechanism for enforcing public accountability, it is also susceptible to abuse if divorced from the safeguards of due process.

"Justice includes accountability. Justice includes fairness. Without fairness, there is abuse," she said.