THE House prosecution on Wednesday completed its presentation of the banking trail behind the P612.5 million in confidential funds at the center of the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Z. Duterte, with a former Land Bank of the Philippines manager testifying on the withdrawal of P112.5 million for the Department of Education (DepEd).
Former LandBank-DepEd branch manager Nenita Camposano took the witness stand after retired LandBank Shaw Boulevard branch manager Violeta Constantino testified on the release of P500 million in confidential funds for the Office of the Vice President (OVP).
Together, the two former bank managers accounted for government checks worth a combined P612.5 million that form the basis of Article I of the impeachment complaint, which accuses Duterte of allegedly misusing confidential funds during her tenure as Vice President and Education secretary.
Before Camposano testified, the prosecution and the defense stipulated that the three LandBank checks presented before the Senate impeachment court were funded by the Philippine Treasury for the account of the DepEd, Office of the Secretary.
House prosecutor and Manila Rep. Joel Chua established that the three checks, each worth P37.5 million, were dated Feb. 20, April 19 and July 11, 2023, and were all payable to Edward Fajarda, DepEd’s Special Disbursing Officer.
Chua also established that Fajarda personally encashed the checks on Feb. 22, April 26 and July 13, 2023, for a total of P112.5 million.
Camposano testified that all three withdrawals followed the same procedure, beginning with an advance request from DepEd’s Cash Division for the bank to prepare the cash.
“Pare-parehas naman po ang proseso doon sa tatlong tseke,” she told the impeachment court.
According to Camposano, the process started with a phone call from Sonia De Leon, chief of DepEd’s Cash Division, because the branch did not have enough cash on hand to immediately cover a P37.5 million withdrawal.
“Ang una po ay tatawag po sa amin ang Cash Division ng DepEd para magpa-reserve ng pera,” Camposano testified.
She identified De Leon as the official who regularly coordinated with the branch on DepEd transactions.
Asked why the advance request was necessary, Camposano replied: “Kasi po wala naman po kaming enough cash para doon sa mga tseke na mentioned. Kaya kailangan po niyang tumawag para i-reserve po namin.”
Camposano said she relayed the request to the branch cashier, who then secured the cash from LandBank’s cash center.
Once the money arrived, the branch informed De Leon that it was ready for encashment.
“Tatawagan na rin po namin si Ma’am Sonia para sabihin na available na ’yung pera,” she said.
Camposano testified that Fajarda would then personally appear at the branch, present the check and his identification card for verification, and wait for the transaction to be validated and approved.
She said the cash was released inside the branch’s backroom in the presence of bank personnel, Fajarda and one unidentified companion. After receiving the money, Fajarda placed the cash into two bags before leaving through the branch’s rear fire exit.
“Ilalagay na po ’yun ni Mr. Fajarda sa dala niyang bag. And then lalabas na po sila doon sa may fire exit, sa may backdoor po namin,” Camposano testified.
Camposano said LandBank employees did not assist or accompany Fajarda after the cash was released because of the bank’s long-standing “hands-off” policy once money had been turned over to the client.
She explained that responsibility for the cash shifted to the client upon release. Asked what happened after Fajarda exited through the rear door, Camposano said she no longer had visibility over where he went: “’Pag nilabas po nila doon sa backdoor, sa may fire exit, hindi na po namin sila nakikita.”
metrosundaily
