MANILA, Philippines – During the impeachment trial on Monday, August 3, the defense team of Vice President Sara Duterte reiterated that there’s an explanation for the P125-million funds of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) flagged by the Commission on Audit.

“Because sa atin, ‘yong 11 days kasi, may mga explanation ‘yan; may maaari tayong gawin na cross diyan, so hindi pa muna tayo pumayag sa stipulation doon,” defense counsel and spokesperson Michael Poa told reporters during a press conference.

(For us, the 11 days, there’s an explanation for that; we can do a cross-examination for that, so we did not agree to the stipulation.)

He said this when asked why the defense did not agree to stipulate for the acknowledgment receipts from December 21 to 31, 2022, which cover 845 documents. Poa said the defense had issues with these receipts.

“But as to the other documents, such as ‘yong mga sinubmit sa COA (Commission on Audit), maliban lang sa acknowledgment receipts, of course. But ‘yong pagdating doon sa ano naman naging AOM (audit observation memorandum) or notice of suspension, I think those are official documents ng COA. So, hindi na natin dini-dispute ‘yan katulad ng mga ginawa natin sa mga cheque na in-encash sa LandBank kamakailan,” Poa added.

(But as to the other documents, such as those submitted by the COA, except for the acknowledgment receipts, of course. But when it comes to the AOM or notice of suspension, I think those are official COA documents. We do not dispute them like the one we did with the LandBank cheques.)

Stipulations are “admissions of facts and of documents to avoid unnecessary proof.” These are done to save time during trials and avoid unnecessary discussions.

The Senate impeachment trial is in the middle of the prosecution’s presentation of evidence against Duterte’s alleged confidential funds misuse. This is the first of the four articles of impeachment of the House prosecution team. The prosecution had finished presenting evidence on the fourth allegation, which is grave threats against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his family.

On Wednesday, the prosecutors presented Roderick Wamil, former state auditor from COA’s Intelligence and Confidential Funds Auditing Office. Wamil testified about the COA’s auditing process of the OVP’s confidential funds.

Both parties agreed to stipulate on these facts:

• The OVP was given confidential funds amounting to P125 million in December 2022, as authorized by the President.
• The Department of Education (DepEd), which Duterte led at the time, was allotted confidential funds amounting to P37.5 million quarterly under the national budget.
• The OVP and DepEd withdrew their respective confidential funds quarterly allocation in full from the 1st to 3rd quarter of 2023.
• Documents (disbursement vouchers, acknowledgment receipts, etc.) submitted by the OVP and DepEd were all signed by the authorized signatories.
• Signatures of officials found in the documents they signed were their signatures.

Objections

During the direct examination, counsel for the prosecution Lorna Kapunan presented receipts bearing the names of individuals who received confidential funds from the OVP.

This included the infamous Mary Grace Piattos and other names, such as Renan Piattos, Nova Santos, Patty Ting, and Andy Lim. Poa objected during the presentation, explaining that Kapunan added “color” to the facts stated.

“With all due respect to Attorney Kapunan, dahil hindi ko gusto talaga mag-object kung hindi kinakailangan. ‘Yan lang kasi, parang nabibigyan kasi ng kulay ‘pag gano’ng mga pangalan. Although she stated for the record na she’s just reading it the way it’s written. But to me kasi, ang dating sa akin is nabibigyan ng kulay,” Poa explained to reporters.

(With all due respect to Attorney Kapunan, because I don’t want to object if it’s unnecessary. But it seemed they were putting color to those names. Although she stated for the record that she’s just reading it the way it’s written. But to me, there’s color to it.)

The OVP’s confidential funds issue first came to light during budget deliberations in 2023, when the COA confirmed that Duterte’s office spent the P125 million in only 11 days. The following year, the commission disallowed P73 million out of the P125 million funds due to “non-submission of documents evidencing the success of information gathering/and or surveillance.”

It also flagged P3.5 million worth of tables, chairs, desktop computers, and printers for not “specifying that they were intended for confidential operations.” Disallowance means that the auditing team disapproved the auditing of a specific transaction, and that the disallowed funds should be refunded by the concerned office.

In April, COA Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit officer-in-charge Gloria Camora said the commission denied Duterte’s appeal on the P73 million disallowance.

When Kapunan presented the receipts on Monday, she also raised, through the COA witness, questions on how the funds were used, as well as the discrepancy in the dates. The funds were intended for 2022, while some of the receipts were dated 2023.

How does the defense intend to explain this?

“You’ll know when we do our cross-examination. You’ll know,” said Poa. – Rappler.com