The former manager of the Land Bank of the Philippines (LandBank) branch on Shaw Boulevard – where the Office of the Vice President (OVP) got its P125 million confidential funds (CF) – has admitted that withdrawing a huge amount in one transaction is unusual.
During the resumption of Vice President Sara Duterte’s trial before the Senate Impeachment Court on Wednesday, ex-LandBank department manager Violeta Constantino gave this observation when asked by Senator-judges Erwin Tulfo and Risa Hontiveros about her views on the OVP’s transaction.
Tulfo first asked whether withdrawing P125 million in one single transaction is normal for government agencies, to which Constantino said that it is ‘unusual.’
‘Is this normal to do withdrawals as big as this for a government agency, is this normal, have you seen other government agencies with withdrawals as big as this?’ Tulfo said.
‘None, these withdrawals are unusual,’ Constantino replied.
After Tulfo’s questioning, Hontiveros asked whether Constantino, in her 32 years of banking experience with the LandBank, had seen such a transaction. The former LandBank official said it was her first time.
‘In your 32 years in the banking industry, with the LandBank, have you seen a withdrawal as big as this, ever, before?’ Hontiveros asked.
‘It’s my first time,’ Constantino said.
The P125 million withdrawn by OVP in December 2022 refers to the CF that was allocated to the agency under Duterte, despite the original budget not having any entry for such purposes.
The original budget was crafted during the time of former Vice President Leni Robredo, who oversaw the OVP budget for 2022. Since Robredo left office in June 2022, Duterte inherited a budget originally crafted by Robredo’s OVP.
This issue became the smoking gun for House of Representatives lawmakers to look into the CF allocations obtained by OVP under Duterte. In August 2023, former ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro said Duterte violated laws when funds were realigned for CFs in 2022.
Unusual in many aspects
But aside from the amount being unusual, Constantino admitted that the way that the funds were transferred – through withdrawal instead of cheques – was also unusual.
‘You said earlier that the amount was unusual, the first time that you saw that amount of P125 million, why did you say it was unusual, what was your floor or basis to say this amount was unusual?’ Hontiveros asked.
‘Usually – the reason why this became unusual for me – is because it was withdrawn cash, when other agencies opt to issue cheques in their disbursement methods, not cash,’ Constantino said.
‘So it’s not only the amount of P125 million which was unusual, the amount of cash being withdrawn and not written as cheques was also unusual’ Hontiveros asked, which Constantino confirmed.
Tulfo also asked Constantino about her description that it was unusual, with the former LandBank branch manager explaining that they were curious as to how the P125 million CF will be used.
‘But you doubted the purpose for this huge amount. Is that correct?’ Tulfo asked.
‘In our personal opinion, as bank employees, of course we thought ‘where will this be used?’ But we didn’t ask them because there was an official advisory,’ Constantino replied.
Later, Constantino also said that other agencies usually opt for online transactions, which made the OVP’s transaction also unusual.
‘Are there other agencies with accounts before your branch?’ Tulfo asked. ‘But none made withdrawals as huge as this?’
‘So far, other offices have converted to an online system, like ATM payroll. So they do not have to withdraw sums of money that big,’ Constantino replied.
The P125 million CF is part of the issues raised under Article I of the Articles of Impeachment. Part of this allocation – specifically P73 million – have been disallowed by the Commission on Audit (COA).
The CF issue is an integral part of the allegations against Duterte. At the hearing of the House of Representatives’ committee on justice last April 14, the panel examined the evidence for the grounds related to CF misuse, listening to the supplemental affidavit of Ramil Madriaga – Duterte’s former aide.
In his supplemental affidavit, Madriaga claimed that the Vice President ordered her in December 2022 to coordinate with Col. Dennis Nolasco about delivering cash to allies in San Pablo, Laguna; a comedy bar in Quezon City, and the Office of the Ombudsman parking lot as a way of ‘returning a favor.’
According to Madriaga, four large duffle bags were unloaded from the vehicles, three of them were dark and one was light-colored – containing around P30 million to P35 million each.
This is believed to be the P125 million confidential fund in 2022, which Madriaga said he liquidated in one day and not the reported 11 days.