NO less than Senate impeachment court presiding officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero said Tuesday it would be “physically impossible” for a lone disbursing officer to make confidential fund payments in far-flung locations on the same day, as the Department of Education’s (DepEd) spending under then-Secretary Sara Z. Duterte came under scrutiny.
Commission on Audit (COA) supervising auditor Xylene Mae del Campo testified that Edward Fajarda was the only special disbursing officer (SDO) designated by Duterte to handle DepEd’s confidential fund cash advances.
But selected acknowledgment receipts (ARs) presented before the impeachment court showed payments supposedly made on the same day in widely separated locations across the country.
“If indeed the SDO is the only officer authorized to disburse the funds, then clearly it is physically impossible to be in all of these locations in one day,” Escudero said as private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan questioned Del Campo about the pattern.
A batch of selected ARs dated Feb. 25, 2023 showed payments in Masbate, Laoag City, Davao City, Agusan del Norte, Olongapo, Samar, Pangasinan, Compostela Valley, Nueva Ecija, Koronadal City, Batangas, Kalinga, Southern Leyte and Abra.
Escudero then noted an earlier admission that the confidential funds had been turned over to another officer.
“And there was earlier admission that the SDO gave the funds to a Col. Lachica, probably even more. So that remains to be seen and proven in the coming days,” he said.
Escudero appeared to have mixed up the security officers involved. Col. Raymond Dante Lachica, then head of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group, figured in earlier testimony involving the OVP confidential funds.
In the case of DepEd, Del Campo later testified that Fajarda admitted under oath during a House inquiry that he turned over the confidential fund cash advances to Col. Dennis Nolasco, who was part of the same security group.
Similar same-day patterns appeared in selected DepEd ARs dated Feb. 21, March 15 and Aug. 9, 2023.
As Kapunan went through the March 15 ARs, she compared the feat required of a lone SDO to Superman.
“Kung hindi man Superman ang isang SDO, kaya ba niyang puntahan?” Kapunan asked, referring to the several locations reflected in ARs bearing the same date.
The defense objected that the question was speculative.
“What is speculative about Superman? He can fly anywhere,” Kapunan replied.
Escudero told her: “We get your point.”
Del Campo said Fajarda’s turnover of the cash advances to Nolasco violated Joint Circular No. 2015-01, which prohibits transferring a confidential fund cash advance from one accountable officer to another.
The ARs form part of COA’s scrutiny of the P112.5 million in DepEd confidential funds spent in 2023 while Duterte was education secretary.
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