MANILA, Philippines — House prosecutors on Monday presented acknowledgment receipts with questionable names and missing supporting documents as they sought to establish alleged irregularities in Vice President Sara Duterte’s liquidation of confidential funds during the 11th day of her impeachment trial.
The prosecution relied on testimony from Commission on Audit (COA) auditor Roderick Wamil, who said the Office of the Vice President (OVP) failed to meet government requirements for liquidating confidential funds released in the final 11 days of 2022.
Wamil, a certified public accountant and lawyer, worked with the COA’s Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office from 2014 to 2024. He audited the OVP’s confidential expenditures from December 2022 to September 2023 and the Department of Education’s expenditures from January to September 2023.
He was the prosecution’s third witness for Article I of the impeachment complaint, which alleges the misuse of PHP612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to the OVP and DepEd during Duterte’s tenure as vice president and education secretary.
The prosecution focused on the PHP125 million confidential fund released to the OVP in December 2022, part of the PHP500 million the office received in four quarterly allocations from the fourth quarter of 2022 through the third quarter of 2023.
Questionable names
Private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan presented boxes containing 845 acknowledgment receipts documenting payments ranging from PHP50,000 to PHP295,000.
The receipts included the name “Mary Grace Piattos,” whose identity had previously drawn scrutiny during congressional inquiries. Other names listed included “Renan Piattos,” “Mico P. Harina,” “Andy C. Lim,” “Gabriel Bisaya,” “Alejandro A. Pikit,” “Nova Santos” and “Patty Ting.”
The prosecution did not declare all the names fictitious but argued that the entries warranted further scrutiny.
Wamil testified that the receipts formed part of the OVP’s liquidation documents for confidential fund expenditures from Dec. 21 to 31, 2022.
One receipt showed a PHP70,000 payment to Mary Grace Piattos for “payment of rewards—medicines.” Wamil said the document did not provide enough information to determine the nature of the transaction.
“I cannot determine based on this document. That’s why we asked for the submission of additional documents,” Wamil told the senator-judges.
Other receipts recorded payments of PHP110,000 to Renan Piattos, PHP295,000 to Mico Harina, PHP50,000 to Andy Lim, PHP70,000 to Gabriel Bisaya, PHP90,000 to Alejandro Pikit and PHP85,000 to Nova Santos for various purchases.
Wamil said the OVP supported those transactions only with acknowledgment receipts instead of the official receipts or sales invoices required under Joint Circular No. 2015-01, which governs confidential and intelligence funds.
“Since these involved purchases, they should have been supported with sales invoices and official receipts, not merely acknowledgment receipts,” he said.
Missing documentation
Wamil also testified that the OVP did not specify the confidential activities for which the funds were spent.
“It was noted that the Office of the Vice President did not enumerate its specific confidential activities,” he said.
He said the OVP also failed to submit documents showing that payments described as rewards to informants resulted in successful intelligence or information-gathering operations, as required under the joint circular.
“All their submissions for payment of rewards do not have supporting documents showing the success of the information-gathering activity or surveillance activity on account of the information given by the informer,” Wamil testified.
The auditor also identified expenditures that COA considered inadmissible as confidential fund charges, including about PHP40 million for medical and food assistance and around PHP10 million in travel expenses.
COA also questioned PHP34.85 million in goods distributed as rewards, PHP24.93 million in medicines, PHP11.81 million in supplies, PHP3 million in computers and PHP500,000 in tables and chairs. The questioned expenses resulted in a notice of disallowance, Wamil said.
He also identified inconsistencies between acknowledgment receipts and accomplishment reports submitted by the OVP. According to his testimony, the documents showed expenditures exceeding the PHP125 million allocation by PHP150,000.
Some liquidation documents also reflected payments made in December 2023 that were charged against the 2022 confidential fund allocation, Wamil said, placing them outside the period allowed under government rules.
“There were no other supporting documents submitted, only these acknowledgment receipts,” he said.
Public funds
Wamil emphasized that confidential funds remain public funds and must comply with government accounting and auditing requirements.
“We follow strict compliance because public funds are involved, so accounting and auditing rules must be strictly observed,” he said.
Wamil also told the impeachment court that Duterte was the only vice president whose confidential funds he audited during his decade with the Icfao. Former Vice Presidents Jejomar Binay and Leni Robredo did not receive confidential fund appropriations during their terms, he said.
He also said Duterte was the only education secretary whose office received confidential funds during his tenure as an Icfao auditor.
The OVP received PHP125 million per quarter from the fourth quarter of 2022 through the third quarter of 2023, totaling PHP500 million. DepEd received PHP112.5 million in confidential funds during the first three quarters of 2023 while Duterte served concurrently as education secretary.
Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, one of the prosecution’s spokespersons, said the evidence presented Monday sought to establish that Duterte failed to properly account for confidential funds entrusted to her office.
The documents presented covered one quarter of the OVP’s confidential fund releases and formed part of hundreds of acknowledgment receipts reviewed by COA auditors.
Outside the impeachment court, prosecution spokesperson Benjamin Tolosa Jr. said the panel would continue to determine how to present its case.
“At the end of the day, for now we have no decision to drop any of the articles of impeachment,” Tolosa told reporters.