Senator-judges grilled hostile witness Lemuel Ortonio over his supposed lack of diligence as chair of the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) bids and awards committee (BAC) when he allowed P122 million in confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) to be released to informants who supposedly purchased medicines and other supplies themselves.

Ortonio is also the OVP assistant chief of staff and heads the department overseeing the agency’s budget.

Senator-judge Kiko Pangilinan questioned why Ortonio allowed the CIF to be distributed in cash directly to informants, bypassing the government’s mandatory bidding process.

“So for surveillance, P122 million worth of medicines was given to informants who said they would buy the medicines themselves. Is this usual, in terms of using government funds and you being a BAC head?” he asked.

Ortonio agreed the purchases should have undergone a mandatory bidding but maintained that the disbursement followed a process permitted by law.

The P122 million reportedly was part of the P500 million in CIF received by the OVP from December 2022 to mid-2023. The OVP spent P42 million on medicines in the first quarter of 2023 and another P40 million in the second quarter.

The P500 million was released in four P125-million tranches, with the first spent in 11 days from 21 to 31 December 2022.

Pangilinan noted that the OVP stopped incurring millions in CIF expenses for medicines after the Commission on Audit flagged the spending.

Of the first P125 million in CIF, P73.3 million was disallowed by CoA for lack of documents showing the funds were used for information-gathering or surveillance activities. CoA auditor Roderick Wamil earlier told the impeachment court that buying medicines with CIF was not allowed under Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2015-0.

Citing Col. Raymund Lachica, Ortonio said informants requested medicines but received cash instead. He admitted he could not verify whether the money was actually spent on medicines.

Senator-judge Win Gatchalian asked whether the informants received cash rather than medical supplies.

“That’s correct, your honor,” Ortonio replied.

Gatchalian pressed Ortonio on the possibility that the documentary evidence of the payments was fabricated.

“What if the DEPs (documentary evidence of payment) are fake? What if his account of events to you isn’t true?” Gatchalian asked.

Ortonio admitted that he did not personally verify the distribution of funds or the legitimacy of the thousands of acknowledgement receipts, saying that he relied on Lachica whom Duterte designated to implement the confidential activities as the group commander of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group.

He said he only learned of the concerns over the medicine purchases after the OVP received the CoA’s Audit Observation Memorandum about nine months after the funds were released.

Senator Bam Aquino also questioned why the OVP did not investigate the apparently fictitious names linked to the CIF, noting that even minor receipt irregularities typically trigger probes in government offices.

Ortonio admitted there was no investigation at his level because the names, while suspicious to others, were not questioned in the CoA’s findings.

Ortonio helped process the CIF and accompanied OVP Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta in encashing the four P125-million checks at the LandBank’s Shaw branch. The cash was placed in gym bags and later handed over to Lachica, although Ortonio said he was unaware of the arrangement.

Acosta earlier testified that Lachica submitted no official receipts, only acknowledgment receipts, many of which prosecutors alleged bore “fictitious” names.