HOUSE prosecutor and Bicol Saro Rep. Terry Ridon on Wednesday said the credibility of the state auditor who testified on Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s confidential fund spending remained intact after hours of cross-examination by the defense.
“The credibility of Ms. Del Campo has not been shaken,” Ridon said at a press conference following the testimony of Commission on Audit-Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (COA-ICFAO) supervising auditor Xylene Mae del Campo.
Ridon said Del Campo stood by key points of her testimony, including the restrictions on the handling of confidential fund cash advances and the need to establish a connection between confidential activities and the expenses claimed for them.
He said the transfer of confidential fund cash to security officers remained a critical issue because the money was supposed to be handled by the designated special disbursing officers (SDOs).
“The moment that there was a transfer of funds to Mr. Lachica, to Mr. Nolasco, doon po nagsimula ‘yun pong batayan kung bakit kailangan po itong ma-disallow in audit,” Ridon said.
Former Office of the Vice President (OVP) SDO Gina Acosta testified before a House inquiry in 2024 that she turned over OVP confidential fund cash to then-Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG) commander Col. Raymund Dante Lachica upon Duterte’s instruction.
Former Department of Education (DepEd) SDO Edward Fajarda similarly testified that he turned over DepEd confidential fund cash he withdrew to then-VPSPG officer Col. Dennis Nolasco for distribution.
Acosta and Fajarda have yet to testify before the Senate impeachment court. Both have been subpoenaed anew for the Aug. 17, 18 and 19 trial dates.
Ridon said another point that survived the cross-examination was the failure to establish a clear “nexus,” or connection, between the surveillance activities presented by the defense and the confidential fund expenditures.
“Meron silang ginagawa mga surveillance activities or confidential activities pero hindi ho maipakita ‘yung nexus doon sa, ‘okay, ginamitan namin ‘yan ng confidential funds,’” Ridon pointed out.
During cross-examination, Duterte’s lawyer Kristine Ferrer presented Protective Intelligence Operations Reports detailing surveillance and security activities surrounding the Vice President’s engagements during the first three quarters of 2023.
The reports described coordination with police and military personnel, threat assessments, surveillance of venues and deployment of operatives and informants along Duterte’s routes.
Del Campo acknowledged that several of the activities could constitute intelligence or surveillance work but maintained that the reports and certifications were insufficient to prove the success of information gathering or surveillance used to substantiate payments the OVP classified as rewards.
Ridon said the distinction between the purchase of information and the payment of rewards also remained clear after the cross-examination.
“Wala tayong debate, sabi po ng COA, doon sa purchase of information. Pero meron pong debate doon sa giving of reward,” he said.
“Kasi kailangan pong maipakita doon yung actual na detalye ng pong resulta kung bakit tayo nagbibigay ng reward sa isang particular po na tao.”
Ridon also questioned why confidential funds were spent on security activities he said were already part of the regular functions of the VPSPG.
“So the question therefore is, bakit mo sasalangan ng confidential funds ‘yun?” he said.
He said succeeding prosecution witnesses would delve further into the liquidation of the funds, including a National Bureau of Investigation examination of similarities in signatures appearing on acknowledgment receipts.
The alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds is at the center of Article I of Duterte’s impeachment case.
The OVP received P125 million in December 2022 and another P125 million in each of the first three quarters of 2023, bringing its confidential funds under scrutiny to P500 million.
DepEd received P37.5 million in each of three quarters in 2023, for a total of P112.5 million, while Duterte was education secretary.
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