A FORMER Office of the Vice President (OVP) special disbursing Officer (SDO) on Monday testified that Vice President Sara Z. Duterte personally instructed her to release the entire P125 million in OVP confidential funds to her security officer after the money was withdrawn in cash on December 20, 2022.
Former Office of the Vice President (OVP) Special Disbursing Officer (SDO) Gina Acosta made the disclosure on Monday while appearing as a hostile witness before the Senate impeachment court, identifying Duterte as the official who directed the transfer of the funds to Duterte’s security officer Col. Raymund Dante Lachica.
‘The person who instructed me to release the P125 million to the security officer, Col. Lachica, was Ma’am Sara Duterte,’ Acosta said.
She testified that she contacted Lachica after encashing the check because she had received instructions from Duterte, whom she identified as her head of agency.
‘There was an instruction from my head of agency that once I encashed the check, I should release it to Sir Lachica,’ Acosta said.
During the proceedings, private prosecutor Atty. Amando Virgil Ligutan presented Acosta’s previous sworn testimony before the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, where she explained why she released the entire amount to Lachica despite being the accountable disbursing officer.
‘Because Ma’am Inday Sara instructed that it should be released to him because he was the one who knew how to implement the programs and activities related to confidential activities,’ Acosta previously testified.
Acosta affirmed the statement before the impeachment court and said she would not have handed over the funds to Lachica without Duterte’s approval.
‘There was approval from Ma’am Inday Sara,’ she said.
When asked if she would have released the money without Duterte’s approval, Acosta answered, ‘No, Your Honor.’
Acosta also testified that Lachica was the person responsible for implementing the confidential activities funded by the OVP in 2023 because of his experience and access related to security operations.
When asked whether Lachica implemented the confidential activities, Acosta replied, ‘That is correct, Your Honor.’
Acosta admitted that she herself did not have the operational knowledge required to conduct such activities.
‘I did not know how to do it; I was not an expert in implementing various confidential activities or operations on the ground,’ she testified.
However, during questioning, Acosta acknowledged that she could not identify any provision under the government’s confidential fund rules that authorized a security officer to disburse confidential funds.
Ligutan asked whether Joint Circular No. 2015-01 contained any provision allowing Lachica, as a security officer, to release confidential funds.
‘None, Your Honor,’ Acosta replied.
She clarified that the responsibility for fund disbursement belonged to her as the designated Special Disbursing Officer.
‘My responsibility was that I was the disbursing officer,’ Acosta testified.
Presiding Officer Sen. Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero also asked whether spending confidential funds was part of a security officer’s duties.
‘No, Your Honor. That is the responsibility of the disbursing officer,’ Acosta answered.
Acosta said Lachica’s role was focused on implementing confidential operations rather than formally disbursing the funds. She testified that after receiving the money, Lachica would submit utilization reports and liquidate the funds after the completion of the activities.
The P125 million released in December 2022 was the first of four tranches of confidential funds amounting to P500 million allocated to the OVP in 2022 and 2023.
The transactions are being examined under Article I of the impeachment complaint against Duterte, which involves allegations concerning the alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds from the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education.
Acosta, who handled the P500 million in confidential funds as OVP Special Disbursing Officer, is currently testifying as a hostile prosecution witness in Duterte’s impeachment trial.