Rep. Joel Chua
HOUSE leaders scrutinizing the third impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Z. Duterte zeroed in on the alleged trail of P125 million in confidential funds, with Manila Rep. Joel Chua citing details from an attached affidavit of Ramil Madriaga, the alleged bagman of the Vice President, that he said answered lingering questions on where the money went.
Recognized by House Committee on Justice Chair Atty. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro of Batangas, Chua began by conceding that the transfer of funds to the Office of the Vice President (OVP), on its face, may not immediately show irregularity.
“Madam Chair, let us assume na tama po iyung sinasabi ni Cong. Bong Suntay na tama po siya kanina. Eto nga pong mga pondo, kung papano po trina-transfer sa OVP. Eh talaga naman pong duon po wala naman tayong nakikita talagang pagkakamali pa. And in fact, trabaho po ito ng Vice President as head of agency. Mag-disburse, tama po ba? Lahat po ng mga dokumento pumirma [siya kung] ano pong dapat niyang pirmahan. Tama naman po iyun,” Chua, chair of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, said.
But he pointed to paragraph 27 of the complaint.
“Sabi po dito, the cash was placed into four traveling bags and brought to the OVP on the same day. Thereafter, VP Sara instructed
[Special Disbursing Officer Gina] Acosta to release the P125 million to Col. [Raymund] Lachica (the head of Duterte’s security group),” Chua said.
Quoting further, he added: “Here, it says here, Acosta, pursuant to VP’s instruction, personally gave Col. Lachica the full amount of P125 million.”
Chua then raised what he described as a crucial question.
“Ang SDO po ay si Acosta. Ano po ang papel ni Col. Lachica dito po sa P125? And that is upon the instruction of the Vice President. Dito po ba wala po tayong nakikitang diperensya?” he asked.
He said that during previous hearings, lawmakers repeatedly asked what happened after the funds were turned over to Lachica.
Chua then cited the affidavit of Madriaga, attached as Annex A to the complaint.
“The affidavit of Ramil Madriaga which was attached as annex A of this complaint affidavit or dito po sa impeachment complaint which can be found on page 13,” he said.
Reading portions of the affidavit, Chua recounted that security officer Col. Dennis Nolasco allegedly sent Madriaga a text message instructing him to meet at Ultra in Pasig City, where they later waited for Lachica.
“In two DepEd (Department of Education) vehicles that ultimately arrived past 3 p.m. Upon arriving, Col. Lachica brought four duffel bags containing millions of pesos,” Chua said.
He said the affidavit states that one duffel bag was delivered to “a mayor in Laguna,” while another was brought to a comedy bar in the Timog area.
“Col. Lachica instructed Madriaga to deliver a duffel bag to a mayor in Laguna. Hindi ko po alam yung mayor po na may kinalaman sa intelligence gathering,” Chua said.
He added that another bag was allegedly delivered to a comedy bar “owned and frequented by San Sebastian law alumni.”
Chua also cited claims in the affidavit that another bag was placed inside a vehicle parked at the Office of the Ombudsman compound, with the keys left on top of the left front wheel.
“Within the same period, Col. Nolasco gave Madriaga a white Toyota Vios with money in the amount of around 80 million pesos,” Chua said, adding that the vehicle was later parked at SM Megamall and retrieved by an unidentified person.
He further read that on another day, Madriaga allegedly saw the same Vios being driven by the wife of an Ombudsman prosecutor, whom he identified as a classmate of the Vice President.
“Madam Chair, dito po yung sinasabi kanina ni Congressman Rufus [Rodriguez] na conspiracy. So, dito na napunta ‘yung sinasabi ni Congressman na hinahanap natin kanina ‘yung 125 million with all the documents,” Chua said.
“Kaya yung COA naglabas ng AOM naglabas ng kung ano-anong mga pangalan na eventually nakita natin ‘yung mga pangalan ay hindi makita ngayon. Ito na ‘yung sagot sa tanong kung san napunta yung pera nabinigay kay Lachica based ito sa affidavit ni Madriaga which is attached in this complaint,” he added.
Luistro asked Chua to clarify the identities of Nolasco and Lachica.
“They are both. I think security details of the Vice President,” Chua replied.
Asked to comment, Mamayang Liberal Party-list Rep. Leila de Lima said the affidavit supports the claim that the P125 million did not go to its intended purpose.
“Pinapakita po na ‘yung P125 million na ‘yon hindi napunta sa dapat puntahan ng such a sensitive funds as confidential or intelligence funds. We can actually say that this was simply appropriated by VP Sara for her personal gain,” De Lima alleged.
“At sabi nga sa affidavit ni Ramil Madriaga ay ito ay napunta sa iba ibang tao, na ano ba sila? Hindi naman sila part of anything at wala namang sinabi,” she added.
De Lima also noted that there was no reported loss.
“There was no report, neither the Vice President nor the OVP reported any loss of the P125 million confidential funds dahil nga napunta sa mga ganyan. So that is actually personal gain,” she said.
She described Nolasco and Lachica as part of the Vice President’s security detail.
“These are actually the head, Nolasco is a head and also Lachica. Sila talaga ‘yung mga supposedly pagka katiwalaan ng Vice President. And so it shows personal gain,” De Lima said.
She also addressed the possible legal theory.
“Gusto ko lang pong sabihin at this point na tungkol naman po sa plunder yes, I agree that it’s more of a conspiracy so it’s a better or a yes, it’s a better theory than just plunder because plunder committed through conspiracy. Let us remember po na pang malversation of public funds, its plunder committed through a series of acts of malversation, so a series of acts of malversation can lead to plunder specially if it meets the monetary threshold of P50 million or more than P50 million,” De Lima said.
The committee continued its deliberations on the first ground of the impeachment complaint.
