By Tracy Cabrera
SENATE, Pasay City — During the 16th day of Vice President ‘Inday’ Sara Duterte-Carpio’s impeachment trial, Office of the Vice President (OVP) special disbursing officer Gina Acosta testified that VP Duterte ordered the unauthorized release of ₱125 million in confidential funds to her security officer Colonel Raymund Dante Lachica.
Based on government budgetary requisites, the release is deemed illegal as Mr. Lachica, the Philippine Army’s former director for research and special studies, is not qualified to disburse the cash for distribution.
Acosta confirmed that her “head of agency” personally issued the instruction that once she encashed the check for the confidential funds, she was to release the money to Lachica.
Accordingly, this violated a joint circular requiring the designated disbursing officer to personally draw, disburse, and account for the money.
Item 6.1.2 of Joint Circular No. 2015-01 governing the use of confidential and intelligence funds provides that all cash advances for confidential funds must be personally drawn, disbursed, and accounted for solely by the duly designated and bonded SDO and cannot be transferred to anyone else.
“The person who ordered me to release the ₱125 million to the security officer, Colonel Lachica, was Ma’am Sara Duterte,” Acosta testified while being questioned by private prosecutor Amando Virgil Ligutan, thus identifying that Duterte was the official who directed her to turn over the confidential funds to Lachica, who was then head of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG).
“Your Honor, my head of agency instructed me that if I can cash the check, I should release it to Sir Lachica,” the OVP’s disbursing officer pointed out.
She also confirmed withdrawing the entire amount in cash from the Land Bank of the Philippines on December 20, 2022: “I put it in my four bags. I personally saw the money behind the teller’s area and packed the ₱1,000 bills into the bags myself.”
She was accompanied by then-OVP assistant chief-of-staff Lemuel Ortonio while their driver was a member of the VPSPG. LandBank security personnel assisted in moving the cash after she had placed it in her four bags.
“We arrived at the OVP past 4:00 in the afternoon, and I brought the bags to an extension office, where I called Col. Lachica to inform him that the confidential fund check had been encashed,” she narrated.
The ₱125 million was reportedly released to the OVP in bundles of P1 million and subsequently declared spent within 11 days, from December 21 to 31, 2022, including the holidays.
ia/xf
