Palace Press Officer Claire Castro on Tuesday accused Senator-judge Imee Marcos of trying to clear Vice President Sara Duterte of allegations of misusing confidential funds (CF).
During the 17th day of Duterte’s impeachment trial, the sister of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. repeatedly pressed former Office of the Vice President (OVP) Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta on whether Duterte personally handled or took any of the confidential funds she disbursed.
Acosta said she never saw Duterte take or keep any of the money.
Castro said while it is Marcos’ right to ask questions, it was apparent where her line of questioning was headed.
‘First and foremost, she wants to get the vice president off the hook from the allegations concerning the use of confidential funds. Through her questions, she is trying to establish that the vice president did not physically handle the money and was supposedly not involved in preparing the documents,’ Castro said at a briefing.
‘But let us remember that the witness herself admitted that the order to release the entire P125 million in confidential funds came from the vice president, through her security officer, Colonel Lachica, when the funds reached the OVP,’ she added.
Castro also said Duterte was the one who exercised command and control over the CF, adding that Duterte did not have to physically hold the money to have it spent, as she could simply give the order.
‘And that is exactly what the former SDO of the OVP, Gina Acosta, admitted. She did not hesitate to acknowledge that the person who gave these orders was none other than the vice president,’ she added.
In her testimony, Acosta recounted what appeared to be a continuing practice of entrusting confidential funds to a security officer under Duterte, from her years as Davao City mayor to her tenure at the OVP.
She said it was standard operating procedure in both offices to turn over confidential funds to Col. Raymund Dante Lachica, despite knowing that he was not a bonded officer.
Senator-judge Joel Villanueva suggested that Lachica be called to testify, noting that Acosta had acknowledged having no personal knowledge of how the funds were actually used.
The court has yet to determine whether the practices described by Acosta constituted misuse of public funds or violated applicable rules.