Sara Duterte trial recap, Aug. 3: 'Confidential' furniture purchases, late-dated receipts

MANILA, Philippines — The state auditor who reviewed the Office of the Vice President's confidential expenditures told the impeachment court Monday, August 3, that the office purchased tables, chairs and medicines in 2022, but could not show enough proof that actual informants were paid.

Roderick Wamil, who audited the funds at the Commission on Audit's Intelligence and Confidential Fund Audit Office and now leads an audit team at COA Pasig, testified as the prosecution's third witness today.

The trial this week will center on the prosecution's continued arguments for Article I, which accuses Vice President Sara Duterte of misusing P612.5 million in confidential funds at the OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd).

The court suspended proceedings for more than 15 minutes at the start as the prosecution and defense reviewed which of the more than 3,000 documents on Article I they could stipulate to.

The defense agreed to most of them, sparing the court 10 of 15 boxes of evidence, but refused to stipulate to the 845 acknowledgment receipts covering the OVP's fourth-quarter 2022 spending.

Lorna Kapunan, counsel to the prosecution, conducted the prosecution's direct examination of Wamil. Counsel Michael Poa represented the defense.

1. Tables, chairs and 'medicines' charged to confidential funds

Under a 2015 joint circular on confidential funds, payments to informers must be approved by the agency head, tied to a specific confidential activity and supported by documents showing the information gathering or surveillance succeeded.

Wamil said the OVP produced the receipts and little else to prove its compliance with the joint circular.

Kapunan showed Wamil a series of acknowledgment receipts for the OVP's use of confidential funds in 2022.

These include receipts showing P70,000 paid to "Mary Grace Piattos" for a "reward" in medicines, P295,000 to "Mico P. Harina" for supplies, and others issued to Nova Santos, Renan Piattos, Janice Revilla, Patty Ting and Andi Lim.

"Hindi ito properly supported ng documents evidencing success, which is required by the joint circular," Wamil said of the Piattos receipt.

In general, most of these receipts did not come with supporting documents that showed the OVP's "success" in information gathering and surveillance.

Other receipts showed the purchase of tables, chairs, desktop printers and computers, with no document tying the purchases to confidential operations.

"Since ang involved ay purchases, these should be supported by sales invoices and receipts at hindi lang acknowledgment receipts," Wamil said.

Asked whether the store where medicines were bought was itself confidential, Wamil said it was not. "Ang confidential ay paggagamitan at hindi pinagbilhan. Magkaiba yun."

Poa moved to strike the answer from the record, arguing that Wamil was not competent to give it. Presiding officer Sen. Chiz Escudero overruled the motion, ruling that Wamil was competent to explain how he assessed the OVP's submissions as the auditor who reviewed them.

2. P40 million in medical, food aid outside the allowable list

The OVP charged P40 million for medical and food aid and P10 million for incentives and travel to its confidential funds, Wamil confirmed.

A part of the joint circular shows that neither medicines nor food appear as legitimate expenses for confidential funds.

Both entries surfaced in a revised accomplishment report the OVP filed the same afternoon that auditors attempted to serve an Audit Observation Memorandum at its office and found no authorized person to receive it.

This revised version submitted by the OVP identified specific confidential activities its original report had omitted.

But it was the point of the prosecution today that this revised version still did not contain the missing proof that payments to informers had produced actual results.

3. P25.6 million liquidated with receipts dated a year late

Wamil issued a notice of suspension over the fourth-quarter 2022 confidential funds.

This means COA essentially flagged the OVP for disbursements that appeared illegal, irregular or improper.

The Annex A of the notice of suspension shows P25.66 million liquidated with acknowledgment receipts dated December 2023, a year after the period the money covered, and P3.27 million supported by receipts carrying no date at all.

The receipts also totaled P125.15 million, exceeding by P150,000 the P125 million the OVP reported in its accomplishment report.

Wamil said he does not know how the OVP answered the notice. He had been transferred to another COA unit by then.

The court adjourned 2:30 p.m. today and will continue 10 a.m. tomorrow still on the prosecution's direct examination of Wamil.

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