MANILA, Philippines — A Commission on Audit (COA) auditor testified on Tuesday that Vice President Sara Duterte is presumed under government auditing rules to have used confidential funds for her personal benefit after the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) failed to submit documents supporting the liquidation of millions of pesos in confidential funds.
Former COA Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office auditor Roderick Wamil, appearing for the second day before the Senate impeachment court, cited Paragraph 8.3 of Joint Circular No. 2015-01, which states that an accountable officer’s failure to liquidate public or confidential funds under his or her custody constitutes prima facie evidence that the missing funds were used for the officer’s personal benefit.
Now an audit team leader in Pasay City, Wamil also rejected the defense’s argument that the OVP was exempt from liquidation requirements because the confidential funds came from the Office of the President (OP).
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Asked by prosecution counsel Lorna Kapunan whether Duterte, as vice president and concurrent education secretary in 2023, was the accountable officer for the confidential funds of both the OVP and DepEd, Wamil answered yes.
He explained that the joint circular makes the head of an agency responsible for overseeing the use of confidential funds, ensuring compliance with liquidation and reporting requirements, and attesting to certifications executed by accountable officers that the funds were spent solely for authorized confidential expenses.
“Based on the joint circular, yes,” Wamil said when asked whether Duterte could be considered the accountable officer.
“What Paragraph 8.3 means is that there was a presumption that the funds were used for the personal use and benefit of the accountable officer,” he added.
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The prosecution argued that the legal presumption arose not from bookkeeping lapses but from the complete absence of documents required under the government’s confidential fund rules.
DepEd funds questioned
For DepEd, Wamil testified that the agency failed to submit supporting documents covering P112.5 million in confidential funds released during the first three quarters of 2023, violating Section 4.8 of the joint circular. The amount consisted of three quarterly allocations of P37.5 million each reflected in the agency’s physical and financial plan signed by Duterte.
The plan identified the intended uses of the funds as counterinsurgency programs, abuse prevention and control in schools, anti-illegal activities operations, and anti-extremism or antiterrorism initiatives.
However, Wamil said DepEd submitted no documents proving the expenditures were actually incurred. He added that the agency also failed to identify the confidential activities on which the disbursements were supposedly based, making it impossible to determine whether the reported accomplishments corresponded to legitimate operations.
“Since their specific confidential activities were not enumerated, their physical target did not match the specific confidential activities that they would use their confidential funds for,” Wamil testified.
OVP expenses flagged
Wamil likewise detailed deficiencies in the OVP’s liquidation of confidential funds.
He testified that the OVP’s first-quarter 2023 accomplishment report included P42 million for medical and food assistance, but no documentary evidence supported the expenditures. Another P10 million was listed for incentives or travel-related expenses supposedly connected to confidential operations, yet no receipts or supporting documents were attached.
Wamil said both expenditures were prohibited because they were not included in the exclusive list of allowable confidential expenses under Item 4.8 of Joint Circular No. 2015-01.
“These do not fall among those enumerated under Item 4.8 of the 2015 Joint Circular. Thus, the same should not be charged against the confidential fund of the agency,” he said.
He added that while the accomplishment report also reflected reward payments, the OVP failed to submit documents proving that the intelligence-gathering or surveillance activities for which the rewards were supposedly paid had resulted in successful operations, another requirement under the joint circular.
When Kapunan asked whether the absence of such documents violated the rules, Wamil replied yes.
The auditor reiterated his earlier testimony that the COA found no documentary evidence supporting confidential fund expenditures during the first and second quarters of 2023 and no proof of successful intelligence operations linked to payments made to informants.
Kapunan argued that these findings triggered the legal presumption under the joint circular that the confidential funds had been converted to the accountable officer’s personal use and benefit.
‘Scam’ remark stricken
Kapunan went further, telling the impeachment court that the evidence showed more than mere prima facie proof.
“Your Honor… this is a scam,” she said.
Defense counsel and spokesperson Michael Poa immediately objected, asking that the remark be stricken from the record. Presiding officer Francis Escudero sustained the objection and ordered the statement removed from the official transcript.
After the hearing, Poa described Kapunan’s remark as a “mischaracterization” and said Escudero correctly ruled that it was improper.
Wamil also testified that in September 2023 he attended a meeting with OVP chief of staff Zuleika Lopez, then DepEd chief of staff Michael Poa, former COA Assistant Commissioner Nilda Plaras and state auditor Gloria Camora. During the meeting, Lopez and Poa allegedly asked the COA to issue an audit query instead of an Audit Observation Memorandum if the OVP’s and DepEd’s liquidation documents were found insufficient, allowing them to supplement their submissions before a formal audit finding.
Poa later confirmed attending the meeting but said he could not recall requesting an audit query. He maintained he was merely a bystander because the discussion primarily involved the OVP and focused on clarifying the joint circular. He added that he believed the COA initiated the meeting, although he was still verifying that recollection.
No exemption from liquidation
During redirect examination, the prosecution sought to rebut the defense’s argument that Duterte could not be held liable because the confidential funds had merely been transferred from the OP.
Kapunan asked Wamil whether the source of the funds altered the obligations imposed by Joint Circular No. 2015-01 on the official who received and administered them.
“It did not,” Wamil replied.
He said that once confidential funds are released to an agency, its head becomes responsible for ensuring they are used only for authorized confidential activities and that all liquidation, documentation, and reporting requirements are observed.
Nothing in the joint circular, he stressed, exempts an agency head from accountability simply because the funds originated from another government office. Thus, the transfer of confidential funds from the OP to the OVP did not relieve Duterte of her duty to account for and liquidate the funds.
The prosecution said the testimony reinforced its position that accountability attaches to the official who receives and administers confidential funds regardless of the source of the appropriation.
Wamil is the prosecution’s third witness on Article I of the articles of impeachment, which accuses Duterte of misusing P612.5 million in confidential funds while heading the OVP and DepEd.
Earlier hearings examined COA findings questioning P375 million in OVP confidential fund expenditures in 2023 and another P73 million in 2022 over unsupported disbursements, expenses outside the allowable purposes under the joint circular, and other documentary deficiencies.
The Senate impeachment court resumes hearings on Article I on Wednesday as the prosecution seeks to prove that the alleged misuse and improper liquidation of confidential funds constituted a culpable violation of the Constitution and betrayal of public trust. —With a report from Zacarian Sarao /cb /atm