Office of the Vice President special disbursing officer Gina Acosta on Monday explicitly pointed to Col. Raymund Lachica as the sole implementer responsible for overseeing the ground operations funded by the P500 million in confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) allocated to the agency from late 2022 to 2023.

The CIF was divided into four tranches of P125 million each, with the OVP utilizing the first tranche for roughly 11 days, from 21 to 31 December.

The breakdown showed that expenses for medical and food aid accounted for the lion’s share at P40 million, while P35 million went to 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, paracetamol was purchased?” Ligutan asked Acosta.

The hostile witness, in response, said no ORs were submitted to her by Lachica aside from acknowledgment receipts (ARs), which mostly comprised “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,’” she told the court.

Presiding officer 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 Col. 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 was prohibited under Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 2015-0—governing the use of CIF—which required that the management of confidential expenses belong strictly to the SDO.

Transfer of funds to Lachica 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 supposedly confidential activities. The same allegedly outlined activities that were solely determined by Lachica.

Senator-judge Win Gatchalian questioned Acosta’s confidence in the fund utilization report prepared by Lachica, asking how she could rule out the possibility that it 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 VPSG chief.

Ligutan asserted that Acosta effectively bypassed her duties by passing off the entire responsibility for CIF management to Lachica, despite him not being covered by a fidelity bond, which serves as insurance coverage.

The prosecution gave emphasis to this because, in the event that the CIF is lost or misappropriated, Lachica will not be held to account for the funds.

Acosta was unable to provide a document proving that Lachica received the P500 million worth of CIF, although she insisted that Lachica signed an “internal” document.

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

“The basis for my liquidation, Your Honor, consists 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 the practice of retrieving the ARs from the SDO was “unusual” and should have prompted Acosta to flag it, but Acosta failed to do so.

Ligutan argued that the absence of ARs for such a large sum of money runs counter to standard liquidation procedures, but Acosta remarked that this was also the standard operating procedure they followed in Davao City.

Acosta also worked for Duterte from 2016 to 2022, during her last year as Davao City mayor before being elected as 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.

Senator-judge Joel Villanueva said he is looking forward to Lachica being called as a witness in the subsequent trial, as many questions surrounding the authenticity of the CIF usage remain unanswered.

Ligutan said the prosecution has yet to decide whether to present Lachica at the next trial, though he noted that he was on the initial witness list.