‘OVP Staff Lobbied COA To Downgrade Findings’

Core staff of the Office of the Vice President lobbied the Commission on Audit in 2023 to downgrade COA audit findings on the OVP’s use of confidential funds, a prosecution witness testified during Day 12 of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday, Aug. 4.

According to COA auditor Roderick Wamil, Duterte’s trusted people, including chief of staff Zuleika Lopez and former spokesman and now defense counsel Michael Poa, asked state auditors to issue a less formal “audit query” instead of an Audit Observation Memorandum (AOM) over deficiencies in the agencies’ confidential fund disbursements.

An AOM formally informs an agency of audit deficiencies and requires it to submit explanations, justifications or supporting documents.

During direct examination by private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan, Wamil recalled that the meeting, initiated by the OVP, took place sometime during the second week of September 2023.

Also present at the meeting, Wamil said, were COA Assistant Commissioner and Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (ICFAO) head Nilda Plaras and audit team head Gloria Camora. They discussed the adverse audit findings on both OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd).

The audit covered P612.5 million in confidential funds, including P500 million released to the OVP and P112.5 million to DepEd.

Wamil also testified that the Vice President personally approved the utilization of irregularly disbursed P375-million confidential funds, as evidenced by her signature on three disbursement vouchers covering the first, second and third quarters of 2023.

Wamil – who handled the audit of the confidential funds of both the OVP and DepEd – said an audit query was not among the audit actions provided under Joint Circular 2015-01, which governed the use and audit of confidential and intelligence funds.

“ICFAO said no since (what they are asking for) is not sanctioned under our Joint Circular 2015-01,” he said, referring to remedies proposed by Duterte’s staff.

Wamil earlier testified that the OVP and DepEd failed to submit documentary evidence supporting confidential fund payments for the first two quarters of 2023. Both agencies reported reward payments without documents showing that information provided by informants were successful.

Signatures

In testifying to the authenticity of evidences presented during Tuesday’s hearing, Wamil identified the signatures of Duterte, who was then the education secretary in a concurrent capacity, on disbursement vouchers, liquidation reports, accomplishment reports and certifications submitted by the OVP.

“The VP certified that her cash advances were necessary, legal and have been incurred under her direct supervision,” Wamil said, noting that he recognized Duterte’s signature on the documents because the OVP had previously submitted her specimen signature.

He also identified Duterte’s signature on three liquidation reports certifying that the “purpose of cash advance” had been “duly accomplished.”

The liquidation reports covered Feb. 6 to March 29, April 25 to June 30 and July 14 to Sept. 30, 2023. Wamil explained that the disbursement vouchers initiated the process for withdrawing the OVP’s confidential funds.

Disallowed purchases

Wamil also revealed that the OVP reported spending P42 million for medical and food aid in the first quarter of 2023 and another P40 million in the succeeding quarter, both charged against the agency’s CIF.

“The provision of medical and food aid and payment of incentives or traveling relative to the confidential operations expenses do not fall among those enumerated under Item 4.8 of the joint circular,” he read from an Audit Observation Memorandum.

“Thus, these should not be charged against the confidential fund of the agency,” he added.

Wamil said the OVP did not submit documents proving that payments were made for medical or food supplies.

Likewise, the OVP also purchased supplies, tables, chairs, printers and computers, and only submitted acknowledgement receipts instead of sales invoices or official receipts, the COA auditor noted.

During questioning, Kapunan labeled as a “scam” the OVP and DepEd’s use of the confidential funds for non-allowable expenses.

Wamil said an accountable officer’s failure to liquidate funds upon demand is prima facie evidence of misuse and that Vice President Duterte, as head of the agency, qualified as an accountable officer responsible for overseeing confidential funds and ensuring full compliance.

Commenting on Tuesday’s developments, House prosecutor and Lanao del Sur 1st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said the OVP cannot hide behind the cloak of confidentiality to explain the absence of official receipts for funds spent.

He noted that while confidentiality may protect the objectives of intelligence operations, “it does not exempt government agencies from complying with auditing rules.”

Wamil further testified that DepEd submitted cash advances under the agency’s annual maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE) budget to liquidate its utilization of P112.5-million confidential funds.

“If the expense was MOOE, it’s not included under specific items under the joint memorandum circular,” he said.

‘Insult to teachers’

Meanwhile, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) on Tuesday slammed Duterte for using DepEd’s P112.5-million confidential funds for the surveillance of agency personnel, as well as teachers and learners.

“In the midst of this severe education crisis, the amount of P112.5 million could have helped in repairing damaged classrooms, additional teacher allowances, toilets, missing chairs and books, etc.” ACT chairperson Ruby Bernardo said.

Bernardo added that every quarter in 2023, a fixed amount of P37.5 million of DepEd funds went to questionable operations aimed at spying, profiling and targeting teachers.

“This utilization of funds serves no one but the Vice President’s personal interests to silence dissent. Diverting education funds for militarized surveillance weaponizes state institutions against the very workforce it is supposed to nurture, making this a clear case of institutionalized red-tagging,” she said. – With Bella Cariaso, Artemio Dumlao, Daphne Galvez