ASEANEWS HEADLINE-VP IMPEACHMENT | MANIA: COA affirms decision to flag VP confidential funds

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) has maintained that P73.28 million of the confidential funds granted to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) in 2022 were spent on projects or activities not related to their intended purpose like surveillance, intelligence gathering or peacekeeping.

The findings were contained in a COA ruling dated April 10 and discussed on Tuesday by the House committee on justice during a hearing on the impeachment complaints filed against Vice President Sara Duterte.

In the document, the COA upheld its earlier decision on Aug. 8, 2024, to issue a notice of disallowance on the OVP regarding the funds. It was further revealed in the hearing that the OVP did not provide evidence proving the “success” of the activities that were supposedly funded.

READ: Chua: COA order on P73-M OVP funds a serious accountability issue

“Other than their representations and certifications, which are self-serving, the appellants were not able to show that the confidential activities of the OVP were related to the purpose for which the CFs (confidential fund) were released to it,” the commission said.

“The enumerated activities of the OVP are observed to be governance in nature,” it added.

The amount flagged by the COA forms part of the P612.5 million in confidential funds that the Vice President had been accused of misusing, one of the key points in the impeachment complaints.

A notice of disallowance is issued by the COA when it flags a government transaction as  “illegal, irregular, unnecessary, excessive, extravagant or unconscionable,” according to the commission’s charter.

During the hearing, Gloria Camora, head of the COA section in charge of auditing confidential and intelligence funds, replied in the affirmative when asked by Akbayan Rep. Chel Diokno whether the notice of disallowance would require the flagged amount to be returned to the government.

According to Camora, the liable officials named in the COA notice are the Vice President, OVP chief accountant Julieta Villadelrey and former OVP security chief Raymund Dante Lachica.

Camora said the notice of disallowance covered the confidential expenses made by the OVP from Dec. 21 to 31, 2022, specifically the P69.78 million used for “rewards” and P3.5 million for buying tables, chairs, desktop computers and printers.

“The Commission holds that the OVP failed to provide documents evidencing the success of information-gathering and/or surveillance activities,” the ruling said.

“The submitted Accomplishment Report on the Utilization of Confidential and Intelligence Funds for the period from December 21 to 31, 2022, merely included a list of the CE (confidential expense) and a general statement that the activities were 100 percent implemented without any untoward security-related incident,” it added.

“However, it did not present the details or breakdown of the CEs and a narration of the success of the information-gathering and/or surveillance activities which were conducted.”

In reply to a question from 1‑Rider Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez, Camora said that while the disallowance was affirmed by the audit body, it did not mean the spending was necessarily “fraudulent or fabricated.”

“It just means that they did not comply with the joint circular,” she said.

Lacking supporting papers

Under a 2015 joint circular issued by the COA together with the defense, budget, and interior departments, confidential funds may only be used for acquiring information for national security purposes and for paying informants. All disbursements must also be properly documented.

“The OVP’s CEs, particularly the payment of rewards to informers, should be supported with documents evidencing the success of the information gathering and/or surveillance activities on account of the information given by the informers and should be directly related to the conduct of the specific confidential activities of the OVP,” the COA ruling said.

“There is no semblance of information gathering and/or surveillance activities related to national security, peace and order, or detection/prevention of illegal activities that pose a threat to personnel, property, and other resources under its protection,” it added.

During the same hearing on Tuesday, a key witness, Ramil Madriaga, testified that in December 2022, on Duterte’s instructions, he delivered bags of cash containing P30 million to P35 million each to three locations in Laguna and Quezon City.

He said the “transport” started from the Pasig City main office of the Department of Education, which Duterte also headed as secretary at the time.

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