Confidential funds liquidation process ‘ghost’, too?—prosecution

QUESTIONS hounding Vice President Sara Z. Duterte’s confidential funds have now gone beyond its alleged fictitious recipients after the prosecution panel in her impeachment trial raised the possibility that even its liquidation process, itself, was also “ghost.”
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Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, a spokesman for the House prosecution panel, said the chain of documents supporting the questioned expenditures deserves the same scrutiny as the unusual names appearing on acknowledgment receipts.
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“Mukhang ang liquidation process din ay nagiging ghost process,” Alonto Adiong said.
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State auditors have testified in the impeachment trial on the deficiencies in documents submitted to justify some of the transactions involving the confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd).
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Alonto Adiong said the problem is compounded by testimony that the individual involved in providing inputs on how confidential funds would be utilized also submitted documents later used in the liquidation process.

He was referring to how the P125 million OVP confidential funds were wrongfully released by former OVP special disbursing officer Gina Acosta to Duterte’s security chief Col. Raymund Lachica.

Despite spending confidential funds not part of his duties as a security officer, Lachica nevertheless received the cash and later submitted utilization documents to Acosta, the witness testified before the Senate sitting as an Impeachment Court last Monday.
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“Tapos siya (Lachica) rin ‘yung nagpo-provide ng liquidation report or mga accomplishment receipts na mukhang ‘yung process ng liquidation ay parang ghost,” he said.
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Alonto Adioing maintained that the chain ultimately leads to the Vice President, who had ordered the transfer of the confidential funds.

“Kung titignan po natin sino ang nag-o-order sa kanila, iisa lang ang na-establish na fact kahapon ay nagmula po kay Ms. Gina Acosta. Ito po ay ayon sa instruction at direktiba ng Bise Presidente,” Alonto Adiong said.
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Manila Rep. Joel Chua, a member of the House prosecution, compared the questioned confidential funds transactions to projects that exist on paper but cannot be verified on the ground.
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“Parang lumalabas nga parang ghost project itong confidential fund,” he said. “Lumalabas parang ‘yung mga tao na puro mga Casper o tinatawag nating ghost, ‘yung mga goods, mga gamot puro ghost.”
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Chua said acknowledgment receipts remained the documentary basis offered for transactions, the actual recipients and purchases of which remain to be under question.
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“Lahat po ghost wala pong lumalabas na totoo at balido. At lahat na lamang ng ginamit nilang ebidensya, puro acknowledgement receipt lamang,” Chua said.