ANOTHER Commission on Audit (COA) auditor began testifying Wednesday as the House prosecution continued presenting evidence on the liquidation of the P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) under Vice President Sara Z. Duterte before the Senate impeachment court.
The witness, COA Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (ICFAO) Supervising Auditor Celine May L. Del Campo, took over the audit from state auditor Roderick Wamil, who earlier testified on the COA’s findings before being reassigned to another office within the commission in 2024.
At the outset of her testimony, Del Campo told the court that during her nearly 12 years with the ICFAO, the only confidential fund liquidation documents submitted by the OVP were those of Duterte.
She also testified that Duterte was the only DepEd secretary whose confidential fund liquidation documents were submitted to the specialized COA office.
“When I started at the ICFAO, the only liquidation documents submitted to our office from the Office of the Vice President were those pertaining to Vice President Sara Duterte,” Del Campo said.
She added that Duterte was likewise “the only Secretary of Education who had confidential funds.”
The P612.5 million under scrutiny consists of P500 million allocated to the OVP from December 2022 to September 2023 and P112.5 million allocated to the DepEd while Duterte served as education secretary in 2023.
Del Campo also told the court that she took over Wamil’s audit of the OVP’s confidential funds covering Dec. 21 to 31, 2022, and the first to third quarters of 2023.
She likewise assumed the audit of the DepEd’s confidential funds covering the first to third quarters of 2023.
Before Del Campo took the stand, private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan outlined the purpose of her testimony.
Kapunan said Del Campo would testify on her evaluation of the OVP’s response to a Notice of Suspension dated Dec. 13, 2023, which prosecutors said remained noncompliant with Joint Circular No. 2015-01, the rules governing the use and audit of intelligence and confidential funds.
She said Del Campo’s evaluation and recommendation led to the issuance of a Notice of Disallowance dated Aug. 8, 2024 covering the OVP’s confidential funds for Dec. 21 to 31, 2022.
Kapunan added that Del Campo also continued the audit of the OVP’s responses to Audit Observation Memoranda covering the first to third quarters of 2023, which later resulted in another Notice of Disallowance dated March 31, 2026.
She is likewise expected to testify on the continuation of the audit of the DepEd’s confidential funds for the same period.
Del Campo also explained that the ICFAO conducts post-audits.
She said the office reviews the utilization of intelligence and confidential funds only after the transactions have been completed and the funds have been spent.
The prosecution then began authenticating documentary evidence through Del Campo, starting with a tabulation and 845 acknowledgment receipts covering the OVP’s liquidation of confidential funds from Dec. 21 to 31, 2022.
Because the defense declined to stipulate to the authenticity of the documents and raised objections to the tabulation, Del Campo was required to review the records individually.
With time running out, Senate impeachment court presiding officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero directed the witness to continue reviewing the documents after the hearing and resume her testimony on Monday, August 10.
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