HOUSE prosecutors intend to seek hostile-witness treatment for Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd) personnel who reported to Vice President Sara Z. Duterte as they continue building their case on the alleged misuse of confidential funds,
Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon said Saturday. “I think all of the OVP and the DepEd personnel that reported to the Vice President, I think we will seek to qualify them as a hostile witness,” Ridon said during the Saturday News Forum at Dapo Restaurant in Quezon City.
Among them is former DepEd special disbursing officer (SDO) Edward Fajarda, whom Ridon said prosecutors expect to treat similarly to former OVP SDO Gina Acosta. Asked directly whether Fajarda would be presented as hostile, Ridon replied: “Tama po ’yun.” “Similar naman po ang status nila ni Ms. Acosta dahil siyempre talaga naman pong ’yung mga interest po nila ay, I think, very similar, particular dito po sa misuse ng confidential funds,” he said.
Fajarda withdrew three P37.5-million cash advances totaling P112.5 million in DepEd confidential funds in 2023, when Duterte concurrently served as education secretary. Ridon said prosecutors expect Fajarda to reaffirm his previous House testimony that Duterte instructed him to turn over the confidential funds to Col. Dennis Nolasco, then a DepEd security officer who was not the department’s designated SDO.
“Ang atin pong inaasahan ay Mr. Fajarda will reconfirm what he had stated during House committee deliberations na ang Pangalawang Pangulo po ay nagbigay ng instructions para po ibigay ’yung confidential funds ng DepEd sa isang non-DepEd organic personnel,” Ridon said. Ridon described the alleged arrangement as essentially the same one Acosta testified about involving OVP confidential funds. Acosta told the Senate impeachment court that Duterte instructed her to turn over P125 million in OVP confidential funds to then-OVP security officer Col. Raymund Dante Lachica after withdrawing the money in December 2022. The P125 million was the first of four cash advances of the same amount made by Acosta from December 2022 to July 2023. The remaining three, totaling P375 million, covered the OVP’s confidential fund spending for the first three quarters of 2023. The OVP received a total of P500 million in confidential funds during the period. In DepEd, prosecutors expect Fajarda to testify that Duterte similarly instructed him to hand the department’s confidential funds to Nolasco. The parallel is significant to prosecutors because the SDOs designated to handle confidential funds allegedly relinquished possession of the cash to security officers upon Duterte’s instructions. Acosta remains on the witness stand after the impeachment court allowed prosecutors to treat her as hostile. Her direct examination is set to continue Monday, Aug. 24. Ridon has described Acosta’s testimony so far as a “smoking gun” and said it established what prosecutors consider the starting point of the alleged misuse. OVP Assistant Chief of Staff Lemuel Ortonio is another Duterte subordinate whom prosecutors intend to seek to have qualified as hostile when he takes the stand. Ridon said hostile-witness treatment would give prosecutors greater latitude in questioning Duterte’s subordinates and help expedite the proceedings. “Dapat ma-qualify po sila as a hostile witness para siyempre ma-expedite din ’yung proceedings doon po sa estilo ng pagtatanong,” he said. Prosecutors are also considering whether to present Lachica as a hostile witness, although Ridon said no final decision has been made. The House panel is still presenting evidence on the confidential funds article, which covers Duterte’s alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds released to the OVP and DepEd from December 2022 to 2023. Of the total, P500 million went to the OVP, including P125 million in December 2022 and P375 million in the first three quarters of 2023, while P112.5 million was released to DepEd in three P37.5-million tranches in 2023. The prosecution has already rested its case on the article involving Duterte’s alleged threats against President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and his family. The bribery and unexplained wealth articles have yet to be taken up.
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