COA auditor says only Sara Duterte's OVP and

COA auditor says only Sara Duterte's OVP and | Daily Tribune

He oversaw the auditing of the P612.5 million in CIF allocated to the OVP (P500 million) and the DepEd (P112.5 million) from the last quarter of 2022 to 2023 as an intelligence and confidential funds audit office (ICFAO) auditor before he was appointed as audit team leader of COA-Pasay.

Wamil told the court that Duterte’s predecessors did not receive any secret funds, adding that it was the first time he had seen the OVP and the DepEd receive CIF, despite having no business in 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 stated the same for the DepEd, which was previously headed by Armin Luistro and Leonor Briones under the administrations of Aquino and Duterte, respectively.

Recall that VP Duterte headed the DepEd from June 2022 until she resigned in June 2024 amid growing tensions with the Marcos administration, which eventually resulted in a bitter falling out.

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

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.

The four LandBank checks were all issued to OVP Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta, whereas DepEd SDO Edward Fajarada was the sole recipient of the P112.5 million.

The three checks, each worth P37.5 million, were allegedly encashed by Fajarda on 22 February, 26 April, and 13 July.

OVP 'non-compliant'

In his capacity as ICFAO auditor, Wamil flagged the lack of documentary evidence to justify the use of confidential funds over an 11-day period from 21 to 31 December, prompting him to issue audit observation memoranda on 14 September and 3 October 2023.

However, he said the AOM was not officially received by the OVP due to an alleged lack of an authorized person to receive 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 [of] legality/propriety/regularity.”

Of the P125 million, P73.3 million was disallowed by COA, and since then, COA has ordered the OVP to return the amount to the government coffers.

The liquidation of CIF follow strict compliance under Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 2015-01, with liquidation reports, bank checks, obligation requests, and accomplishment reports as among the required documents to be submitted to the COA.

However, Wamil said the OVP did not comply with the requirements provided.

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 of which activity the CIF would be used for.

“Based on this submitted physical and financial plan, it is not indicated here their specific confidential activities [for] which they will base their disbursement,” Wamild told the court.

According to the witness, this was a blatant violation of JMC, which mandates that all requests and allocations for CIF be supported by a physical and financial plan indicating the proposed amount allocated to each program and activity to support the use of the funds.

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 added.

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

The P612.5 million in CIF spending was supported by acknowledgment receipts, the majority of which were flagged by House lawmakers as “highly suspicious,” citing alleged irregularities such as identical signatures, incorrect dates, and some lacking signatures or names.

The supposed inconsistencies fuel suspicion among legislators that the ARs were likely 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.

Past verification by the Philippine Statistics Authority 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.

Subsequent results from 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.