THE House prosecution panel is expected to begin on Wednesday its evidence presentation on the alleged misuse by impeached Vice President Sara Z. Duterte of P612.5 million in confidential and intelligence funds (CIFs).
Article 1 of the Articles of Impeachment charges the Vice President with culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and corruption and betrayal of public trust by allegedly misusing such huge amount of CIFs given to the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education (DepEd) when she was education secretary.
Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon told a news conference Friday that the charges in Article 1 are a big issue.
“Yan ang inaasahan natin sa pagsalang hopefully as early as Wednesday (next week)…So, ‘yung confidential misuse ito po ‘yung isa sa mga pinaka aantay ng bayan na talakayin at presentation ng ebidensya dahil pag-uusapan dito ang malalaking usapin,” he said.
He said the names of supposed recipients of huge amounts of CIFs and similarities in their signatures on acknowledgement receipts would come up in the prosecution’s presentation of evidence.
“Pag-uusapan ang Mary Grace Piattos, Milky Sikuya at iba pa mga pangalan na kumuha, tumanggap ng confidential funds mula sa Office of the Vice President. Mapag uusapan po dito ‘yun pong mga similar na mga pirma nito pong mga taong ito kung saan sinabi na parang ilang taon na isang grupo lang ang pumirma para sa mga tao ito,” he added.
He pointed out that another piece of evidence that would be presented in a report from the Philippine Statistics Authority that the recipients’ names and personal details do not exist its database.
“Ilalahad din doon ang PSA report kung saan sinasabi that these particular personalities do not actually exist. They were never born, they were never married, they had never died in the Philippines. So yan po yung ilan sa mga pwedeng mailatag dyan po sa confidential funds misuse,” he stressed.
But the most important piece of proof would be the auditing findings of the Commission on Audit, which has asked the Vice President and other responsible officials to return to the government P448 million in disallowed expenses, Ridon said.
“At huli at pinakamahalaga, ang pagpapakita at presentasyon ng Commission on Audit reports kung saan may pinasosoli na P448 million mula sa Pangalawang Pangulo mismo,” he said.
He noted that the first amount disallowed was P73 million, on which the COA decision has become final.
“Ibig sabihin kailangan na pong isoli personal ng Pangalawang Pangulo at iba pang mga napangalanan doon yung P73 million, “ he said.
He said the rest of the P448 million would also be returned if the Vice President and other officials would not appeal the COA disallowance declaration.
He said the issue on the alleged misuse of CIFs is very important because the money involved is taxpayers’ money and not personal funds of the Vice President.
“Mahalaga ito dahil pera ito ng tao. Hindi ito pera ng Pangalawang Pangulo na pwede niyang pagpasahan kung saan lang po ito pwedeng gamitin. So minamahalaga po ng Prosecution panel na dapat ang bawat piso ng pera ng bayan ay ginagamit sa dapat po niyang pinaglalaanan. At yan po ang basically puso ng confidential funds misuse article,” he stressed.
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