A P150,000 discrepancy in the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) confidential fund records was traced to expenses paid out of the personal funds of an official who was never reimbursed, testimony at Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial showed Tuesday.

OVP Assistant Chief of Staff Lemuel Ortonio, the second hostile witness for the prosecution, testified that he gave the money to former special disbursing officer Gina Acosta after she approached him over an urgent request from then OVP security officer Col. Raymund Dante Lachica.

“Unfortunately, ma’am, I was not reimbursed anymore,” Ortonio told House private prosecutor Mae Divinagracia when asked if he eventually recovered the money.

The payment was later included in the OVP’s accounting records as part of its confidential fund expenses, although Ortonio said it came from his own pocket and was not recorded as such.

The discrepancy was flagged by the Commission on Audit (CoA) in the OVP’s liquidation of P125 million in confidential funds. The OVP’s accomplishment report listed P125 million in expenses, while its supporting documents totaled P125.15 million.

“Yes, ma’am, that’s correct,” Ortonio said when asked if the figures did not match.

Ortonio was among the OVP officials who signed a 13 March 2024 response to the CoA, initially attributing the difference to receipts that may have been “inadvertently mixed” with the accounting documents.

Nine days later, however, the OVP submitted a supplemental reply offering a different explanation.

“The reconciliation shows that an amount of P50,000 under the payment of rewards and an amount of P100,000 under the purchase of supplies were provided by Assistant Secretary Lemuel G. Ortonio out of his personal funds,” the supplemental reply stated.

Ortonio said Acosta sought his help because of the urgency of the request and that he handed over the cash without asking for a receipt.

“At the time, because of the urgency and because Ms. Gina asked for my help, I provided her with the request,” he said, adding that such an arrangement was not common at the OVP.

Asked why the personal payment was not disclosed in the initial response to the CoA, Ortonio said he first had to verify the details with Acosta before submitting the supplemental reply.

He also acknowledged that there was no allotment at the time to support an obligation for the confidential funds and that no certification of availability of funds had been issued.

Ortonio agreed that CIF rules require cash advances to precede expenses and prohibit using them simply to reimburse expenses already incurred.

Duterte’s knowledge

Presiding Officer Senator Francis Escudero asked Ortonio if Duterte knew about the OVP’s confidential fund activities.

Ortonio said Duterte knew about the activities and their implementation.

“Based on my understanding and based on what I know, yes, the VP knew about the confidential fund activities and how they were being implemented,” he said.

Asked if he knew what Acosta or Lachica did with the CIF — from disbursement and withdrawal to spending and liquidation — that Duterte did not know about or authorize, Ortonio replied:

“As to Ms. Gina and Colonel Lachica, I would have no personal knowledge on it.”