Acosta: Lachica handled P500M

Former Office of the Vice President Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta on Monday explicitly pointed to Col. Raymund Lachica as the sole implementer of the ground operations funded by the P500 million in confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) allocated to the OVP from late 2022 to 2023.

The CIF came in four tranches of P125 million each, with the OVP spending the first tranche in 11 days, from 21 to 31 December.

The breakdown showed that expenses for medical and food aid accounted for the lion’s share of the first tranche at P40 million, while P35 million went for the purchase of supplies, for a combined total of P75 million.

Private prosecutor Amando Virgil Ligutan questioned the absence of a single official receipt (OR) evidencing that the funds were used to purchase medicines, such as paracetamol.

“What was so highly confidential about where the Biogesic and paracetamol were purchased?” Ligutan asked Acosta.

The hostile witness, in response, said Lachica did not submit any ORs to her, only acknowledgement receipts or ARs which mostly contained “fictitious” names, as alleged by the prosecution.

Acosta claimed that she raised concerns with Lachica about several ARs lacking names, dates and signatures, but the latter supposedly dismissed them, citing confidentiality.

“The security officer’s response to me was, ‘Ma’am Gina, whatever documents I gave you, that’s it, because the transactions or operations involve very sensitive and confidential information,’” Acosta told the court.

Presiding officer Sen. Chiz Escudero zeroed in on her and asked whether she compelled Lachica to produce ORs after the Commission on Audit flagged a large portion of the CIF expenses for lacking relevant documents evidencing the success of the confidential activities.

“So, were you satisfied with Colonel Lachica’s answer when he said, ‘That’s it, it’s confidential,’ you just accepted that?” Escudero asked, to which Acosta replied, “Yes, Your Honor.”

Lachica was the former ground commander of a military security group dedicated to the Vice President, which was activated upon Duterte’s request after she assumed office in June 2022.

Ligutan argued that the transfer of the P500 million in CIF to Lachica violated Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2015-01, which governs the use of confidential and intelligence funds and requires the special disbursing officer to retain control over the confidential expenses.

Funds transfer on VP’s orders

Acosta admitted that she turned over the entire CIF to Lachica on Duterte’s orders, despite being well aware of the provision.

Subsequently, Lachica furnished her with a fund utilization report as proof that the CIF was utilized for confidential activities. Lachica allegedly determined the activities outlined in the same documents.

Senator-judge Win Gatchalian questioned Acosta’s confidence in the fund utilization report prepared by Lachica. He asked how she could rule out the possibility that the report was fake or doctored when she was not present to personally account for the funds.

Acosta responded that she trusted Lachica because he was appointed by her boss, Duterte, as the VP Security Group chief.

Ligutan noted that Acosta effectively bypassed her duties by passing off the entire responsibility for the management of the CIF to Lachica, despite his not being covered by a fidelity bond, which is an insurance coverage.

The prosecution emphasized this point because if the CIF were lost or misappropriated, Lachica could not be held accountable for the funds.

Acosta was unable to produce a document to prove that Lachica received the P500 million in CIF, although she insisted that Lachica signed an “internal” document.

The document served as an acknowledgment of each cash release, but Acosta said Lachica took back the supporting documents, including the ARs evidencing the utilization of the CIF after she completed the liquidation process.

“The basis for my liquidation consisted of the documents provided to me by the security officer after he had carried out the confidential activities on the ground,” Acosta said, referring to Lachica.

Ligutan argued that retrieving the ARs from the SDO was “unusual” and should have prompted Acosta to flag the practice, but she failed to do so.

He said the absence of ARs for such a large sum of money ran counter to standard liquidation procedures, but Acosta replied that this was the same standard operating procedure they followed in Davao City.

Acosta also worked for Duterte from 2016 to 2022, including her final year as Davao City mayor before she was elected vice president. She also served as SDO for the city’s confidential funds, which ballooned from P144 million in 2016 to P460 million over three consecutive years beginning in 2019.