AFTER two days of questioning before the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Z. Duterte, Commission on Audit (CoA) auditor Roderick Wamil’s testimony remains solid and unrebutted, the House prosecution said Tuesday.
Counsel for the House prosecution Atty. Benjamin Tolosa Jr. said Wamil’s testimony on the irregularities found in the use and liquidation of confidential funds by the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education in 2002 and 2003 respectively were not debunked by the defense lawyers after their cross examination on the witness.
“Sa tingin namin lalo pa napagtibay yung testimony ng among testigo. Dahil hindi naman nabutasan. In fact, maraming bagay na nilahad niya sa direct examination na hindi na natanong,” Tolosa said during a press conference.
He cited the statements made by Wamil about the numerous documents showing how the Vice President participated and approved the approval, disbursement and liquidation of the confidential funds of her two offices during that time, which her defense did not bother to refute.
“Maliwanag hindi ito nabutasan,” Tolosa said.
There was no evidence presented to counter the testimony of Wamil regarding the absence of supporting documents on the use of the confidential funds.
Tolosa said that even the utilization of P125 million by the OVP in a mere 11 days and the rentals paid at an average of P2 million per day was not questioned by the defense.
“Hindi na yan nausisa pa. it means the testimony of the witness on this matter stands,” he said.
House prosecutor Terry L. Ridon of Bicol Saro party-list said the testimony of Wamil supports the assertions made that the use of confidential funds by the Vice President was akin to a scam.
“Nailantad ngayong araw na ito ‘yung pagiging scam, iskandalo nitong confidential funds misuse. Nakita natin ‘yung pattern ng maling paggamit. ‘Yung pekeng mga pangalan. Nakita natin na ‘yung pera hindi ginamit para sa confidential expenses. Hindi nila maipakita yung confidential activities na pinaggamitan ng pondong ito,” Ridon said.
He said these were all flagged by COA and resulted in notices of suspension and disallowance because of the irregularities found in the utilization and liquidation.
“Kaya pwede natin sabihin katulad ng binanggit previously ni Cong. Joel Chua na this is akin to the fertilizer fund scam. But more importantly, we can state today na ito ay katulad ng Napoles PDAF scam,” Ridon said.
He recalled that the Napoles PDAF scam involved the use of ghost non-government organizations and ghost beneficiaries to funnel large sums of public funds into the pockets of Janet Lim Napoles and lawmakers.
“Ganoon din nangyari dito. Malalaking encashment ng pera, P125 million. Hanggang sa araw na ito hindi liquidated ng maayos ang pondong ito. Pag hindi tama ang liquidation there is prima facie view na ito ay pinera nung mga involved na mataas na opisyal, head of agency katulad ng Pangalawang Pangulong Sara Duterte at ang kanyang mga kasama sa OVP,” Ridon said.
“But we will go to the final point, mayroong desisyon ang COA proper– pinapasauli sa Pangalwang Pangulo at ng kanyang mga kasama ng P73 million for the 2022 OVP confidential funds at susunod pa yung balanse ng P448 million para sa 2023 confidential fund,” he added.
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