It would be ‘physically impossible’ for a lone disbursing officer to make confidential fund payments in far-flung locations on the same day.
Sen. Francis Escudero, the presiding officer of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, offered that observation on Tuesday, the 14th day of the proceedings, during the testimony of Xyelene Mae Del Campo of the Commission on Audit (Coa).
Del Campo, the supervising auditor of Coa’s Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (Icfao), had testified that Edward Fajarda was the only special disbursing officer (SDO) designated by Duterte to handle the confidential fund cash advances of the Department of Education (DepEd), which the vice president concurrently headed in 2023.
But, according to a House prosecution statement, some acknowledgment receipts (ARs) presented before the impeachment court showed payments supposedly made on the same day in widely separated locations across the country.
‘If indeed the SDO is the only officer authorized to disburse the funds, then clearly it is physically impossible to be in all of these locations in one day,’ Escudero said as House private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan questioned Del Campo about the pattern.
A batch of selected ARs dated Feb. 25, 2023 showed payments in the following places:
Masbate
Laoag City
Davao City
Agusan del Norte
Olongapo
Samar
Pangasinan
Compostela Valley
Nueva Ecija
Koronadal City
Batangas
Kalinga
Southern Leyte
Abra
Is the SDO Superman?
Escudero then noted an earlier admission that the confidential funds had been turned over to another officer.
‘And there was earlier admission that the SDO gave the funds to a Colonel Lachica, probably even more. So that remains to be seen and proven in the coming days,’ he said.
Escudero appeared to have mixed up the security officers involved. Col. Raymond Dante Lachica, then head of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group, figured in earlier testimony involving the OVP confidential funds.
In the case of DepEd, Del Campo later testified that Fajarda admitted under oath during a House inquiry that he turned over the confidential fund cash advances to Col. Dennis Nolasco, who was also part of the security group.
Similar same-day patterns appeared in selected DepEd ARs dated Feb. 21, March 15, and Aug. 9 -all in 2023.
As Kapunan went through the March 15 ARs, she compared the feat required of a lone SDO to be Superman.
‘If a single SDO is not Superman, can he go there [to all those places]?’ Kapunan asked, referring to the several locations reflected in ARs bearing the same date.
The defense objected that the question was speculative.
‘What is speculative about Superman? He can fly anywhere,’ Kapunan replied.
Escudero told her: ‘We get your point.’
According to Del Campo, Fajarda’s turnover of the cash advances to Nolasco violated Joint Circular No. 2015-01, which prohibits the transfer of a confidential fund cash advance from one accountable officer to another.
The ARs form part of COA’s scrutiny of the P112.5 million in DepEd confidential funds spent in 2023 while Duterte was education secretary.