THE Office of the Vice President secured the release of P125 million in confidential funds in late 2022 using a physical and financial plan that did not identify specific surveillance operations, locations, costs or numerical performance targets, according to testimony before the Senate Impeachment Court on Monday.
Gina Acosta, the OVP’s former special disbursing officer and the official identified as accountable for the plan, acknowledged that the document placed the entire allocation under the broad heading ‘Good Governance Program’ and contained only generic descriptions of how the money would be used.
Private prosecutor Atty. Amando Virgil Ligutan initially established that the plan was a prerequisite for release. After he asked whether confidential funds could be released without a physical and financial plan, Acosta replied: ‘That is correct, Your Honor.’
The circular requires confidential and intelligence fund allocations to be supported by a physical and financial plan indicating the proposed amounts for programs, activities and projects. It also requires cash advances to be used for specific legal purposes connected with confidential or intelligence activities and calls for expenditure details to be reflected in accomplishment reports.
Acosta said she prepared and signed the OVP plan with inputs from then-security officer Col. Raymund Dante P. Lachica, whom she described as the person with operational expertise.
‘I worked with our security officer, Your Honor, because I asked him for inputs or guidelines in preparing the physical and financial plan,’ she said.
Under questioning, Acosta said the ‘Good Governance Program’ covered various OVP initiatives, including free rides, tree planting, and financial and medical assistance. She said she had no personal knowledge of whether studies had been conducted in developing the program.
Asked why the plan did not contain an itemized list of activities, Acosta said: ‘I did not include the details, Your Honor, because the Joint Circular does not state that they have to be itemized.’
The plan referred to areas where surveillance would supposedly be conducted and monitored and to the percentage of activities implemented without security incidents. But no numerical targets were entered for either measure.
Asked whether the actual figures appeared in the plan, Acosta answered: ‘Not yet, Your Honor.’
According to her testimony, the more specific activities appeared later in the accomplishment and liquidation documents submitted after the funds had already been released.
Acosta also confirmed that the physical and financial plan had been presented to Duterte.
‘It was approved,’ she said, when asked whether the Vice President approved the program.
Acosta separately testified that tree planting was among the activities treated as part of the OVP’s good-governance program and funded through confidential funds. She maintained that activity details were contained in attachments eventually submitted to COA and were based on information supplied by Lachica.
Her testimony came after the impeachment court formally declared her a hostile witness.
Presiding Officer Sen. Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero granted the prosecution’s motion after Acosta confirmed that she remains employed by the OVP in a coterminous position and that Duterte is her superior.
Escudero also cited the position Acosta had taken in a counteraffidavit filed before the Office of the Ombudsman, in which prosecutors said she maintained that Duterte had complied with rules governing confidential funds.
The hostile-witness declaration allows Ligutan to use leading questions during his examination, although Escudero stressed that misleading questions remain prohibited. Acosta is the first witness formally declared hostile in Duterte’s impeachment trial.
The prosecution said it intends to establish that Duterte directed Acosta to encash P500 million in OVP confidential funds in four tranches and turn over the cash to an OVP security officer, and that the money was not properly liquidated. Those assertions remain allegations being presented by the prosecution and are subject to testimony and cross-examination by the defense.
The P500 million forms part of the P612.5 million in confidential funds covered by Article I of the impeachment complaint-P500 million released to the OVP and P112.5 million released to the Department of Education while Duterte was education secretary.
Earlier Monday, the impeachment court also took judicial notice of official House records related to congressional investigations into the confidential funds after Duterte’s defense agreed to stipulate to their custody and transmission.
Escudero clarified that the court was recognizing the existence of the documents and their inclusion in official House records, not accepting the truth or relevance of their contents.
Lachica’s role
Acosta also testified that Lachica provided key inputs for the OVP’s confidential fund plans, expenditure details, and liquidation reports, but his role was not identified in documents submitted to the COA.
Acosta said Lachica, then OVP security officer, provided guidelines on confidential operations and the categories of expenses for the funds.
Although Acosta was listed as the accountable officer and preparer of the 2022 Physical and Financial Plan, she said the document was based on Lachica’s operational inputs. She also testified that liquidation reports relied on utilization reports submitted by Lachica.
Acosta said she accepted all reports provided by Lachica because he had direct knowledge of implementing confidential activities.
For the 2023 plan, she again sought Lachica’s guidance in preparing the program details.
Asked whether any OVP documents submitted to COA had showed Lachica provided the inputs and implemented the activities, Acosta answered: ‘None.’