Auditor: Sara first VP with confidential funds

Wamil told the court that Duterte’s predecessors did not have any CIF, adding that it was the first time he saw the OVP and the DepEd receive such funds despite having no business with intelligence or surveillance.

“Since I assumed my post at the ICFAO in 2014, neither former Vice President (Jejomar) Binay nor former Vice President Leni Robredo had appropriations for confidential funds. Only Vice President Sara Duterte received an appropriation for confidential funds,” he said in Filipino.

Wamil said the same went for the DepEd, which was headed by Br. Armin Luistro and Leonor Briones during the administrations of Benigno Aquino III and Rodrigo Duterte, respectively.

VP Duterte concurrently served as education secretary from June 2022 until her resignation in June 2024.

Wamil was the third witness called by the prosecution to testify on the alleged irregularities and misuse of the CIF under Article 1 of the Articles of Impeachment.

The OVP received a quarterly allocation of P125 million from December 2022 to July 2023. The first tranche was allegedly spent in just 11 days, beginning on 20 December 2022.

The four LandBank checks were all issued to OVP Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta, while at the DepEd SDO Edward Fajarada was the sole recipient of P112.5 million. The three checks, each worth P37.5 million, were allegedly encashed by Fajarda on 22 February, 26 April and 13 July 2023.

OVP ‘non-compliant’

In his capacity as an ICFAO auditor, Wamil flagged the lack of documentary support for the OVP’s use of confidential funds from 21 to 31 December 2022, prompting him to issue Audit Observation Memoranda (AOM) on 14 September and 3 October 2023.

However, he said the OVP did not officially receive the AOM because no authorized personnel was available to accept it.

As a result, a notice of suspension was later issued to the OVP on 13 December 2023. The CoA only issues a notice of suspension for transactions deemed “doubtful [as to] legality/propriety/regularity.”

Of the P125 million, P73.3 million was disallowed by CoA, which ordered the OVP to return the amount to the government coffers.

The liquidation of confidential and intelligence funds is subject to strict compliance with Joint Circular No. 2015-01, which requires the submission to the CoA of liquidation reports, checks, obligation requests, accomplishment reports, and other supporting documents.

Wamil said the OVP did not comply with the requirements.

For instance, the OVP’s physical financial plan, signed and approved by VP Duterte on 13 December 2022 for the disbursement of the P125 million first tranche, bore no explicit explanation for which activity the CIF would be used.

“Based on this submitted physical and financial plan, it was not indicated here their specific confidential activities for which they would base their disbursement,” Wamil told the court.

According to him, this was a clear violation of the joint circular, which requires that all requests for and allocations of confidential and intelligence funds to be supported by a physical and financial plan indicating the proposed amount allocated for each program and activity.

Prosecutors present 15 boxes for CIF

In addition, he pointed out that the expected outcomes and physical targets for which the funds would be used failed to align with the specific confidential activities, further contradicting the same provision.

“Since the Office of the Vice President did not indicate its specific confidential activities here, the expected outcomes and physical targets did not match the information presented in this document regarding those specific confidential activities,” he said.

At least 15 boxes marked as confidential funds were presented to the impeachment court. The boxes contained the paper trail of the OVP and the DepEd CIF.

The OVP supported the P612.5 million in CIF spending with acknowledgment receipts.

However, House lawmakers earlier flagged most of the receipts as “highly suspicious,” citing alleged irregularities such as identical signatures, incorrect dates and missing signatures or names.

The supposed inconsistencies fueled suspicion among legislators that the acknowledgment receipts likely were fabricated or hastily prepared and submitted to the CoA to justify the spending.

During the House hearing in 2024, lawmakers also pointed to the “dubious” names of recipients, including “Mary Grace Piattos, “Jay Kamote,” “Miggy Mango,” “Dodong Gang,” “Xiaome Ocho,” “Mico Harina,” “Ralph Josh Bacon” and “Sala Casim,” among others.

Verification by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) revealed that of 1,992 supposed recipients of confidential funds from the OVP, 1,322 had no birth records, 1,456 had no marriage records, and 1,593 had no death records.

The PSA also disclosed that out of 677 names listed as beneficiaries of DepEd’s confidential funds, 405 had no birth records, 445 lacked marriage certificates, and 508 had no death certificates.