Vice President Sara Duterte’s defense kept its cards close on Monday, declining to say which witnesses it would call as the impeachment trial examined how hundreds of millions of pesos in confidential funds were disbursed and accounted for.

Defense spokesperson Michael Poa said the team would not disclose whether it would call former police officer Ramil Madriaga or former Office of the Vice President security official Col. Raymund Dante Lachica, whose names have figured prominently in the prosecution's presentation.

“We don’t telegraph our moves,” Poa told reporters after Monday's trial.

Madriaga is listed as a prosecution witness and also appears on the defense's witness list, Poa said. He declined to say whether the defense would ultimately present him.

“Tingnan na lang natin kung kinakailangan na i-present siya o hindi,” he added.

The defense has likewise not said whether Lachica, who received P500 million in confidential funds from former OVP special disbursing officer Gina Acosta, would testify.

Poa also defended Acosta's use of Bisaya during her testimony, rejecting suggestions that she was using the language to evade questions.

He said Acosta had previously expressed a preference for speaking Bisaya during congressional hearings and that her testimony in the Senate was broadly consistent with what she had said before the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability.

“Perhaps hindi naman ‘yan strategy or evasiveness. It’s really her nature na mas komportable siya sa Bisaya,” Poa said.

Meanwhile, Bukidnon Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores and prosecution spokesperson Robert Ace Barbers rejected suggestions that Acosta was incompetent or genuinely unable to understand questions, saying her previous experience as a special disbursing officer in Davao City and later at the OVP required considerable skill.

“Sa tingin ko she’s not dumb naman talaga, and I’m sure she’s far from it.  Hindi mo aasahan, example, sa city pa lang, siya din SDO, P460 million na ibibigay mo to a person na sinasabing, hindi naman gano’n siguro.  I’m sure, may alam ‘yan, I’m sure marunong ‘yan,” Flores said.

“Kasi hindi mo iaasa ang gano’n kalaking halaga sa taong sa tingin mo’y walang kakayahan na mag-isip,” he added.

For Barbers, the more important question was whether the system used to handle confidential funds in Davao City had been carried over to the OVP, including the practice of handing funds to people who were not authorized to disburse them.

“Ako personally, I believe competent siya because may experience siya. Ang tanong na nga lang, have they been disbursing the same funds, confidential funds, in the same way noong sa Davao City or dito sa OVP,”  Barbers said.

He said Acosta’s repeated, cautious answers appeared aimed at limiting opportunities for prosecutors to probe further.

“Less talk, less mistake,” Barbers said, describing what he saw as Acosta’s approach to questioning.

Acosta's testimony on Monday acknowledged that she handed confidential funds to Lachica even though she knew he was not bonded. The House prosecution said the transfer raised questions under government rules governing confidential and intelligence funds.

Under COA-DBM Joint Circular No. 2015-01, cash advances for confidential and intelligence funds are to be drawn by duly designated and bonded special disbursing officers or heads of agency. 

The same circular states that “no transfer of funds/appropriation through cash advances or any form of payment from one agency to another for purposes of confidential and intelligence activities shall be allowed.”###