The ₱612.5M confidential-funds charge

Positions

Developments

1. July 6, 2026·Impeachment Trial - Day 1Context

   Day 1 put the Article I confidential-funds theory into the trial record through opening statements and subpoena fights; the defense pointed to COA finality and DBM/OP approval-process arguments.

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2. July 8, 2026·Impeachment Trial - Day 3Context

   Day 3 touched Article I procedurally: the court confirmed the BIR tax-record box ordered returned on July 6 had been sent back to the BIR sealed and untouched, the prosecution filed a motion for a subpoena duces tecum et testificandum for the box, and the Presiding Officer set July 15 oral arguments (with the bank-records question) on whether to compel it.

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3. July 29, 2026·Impeachment Trial - Day 10Supports this claim

   The House prosecution presented a Land Bank of the Philippines witness's testimony to prove that the bank's Shaw Boulevard branch processed the encashment of four checks of ₱125 million each payable to Gina F. Acosta, identified by the prosecutor as the Office of the Vice President's Special Disbursing Officer, on dates from December 2022 to July 2023. The witness also testified that no document designated Edward Fajarda as the Department of Education's Special Disbursing Officer and that the bank honored his encashment based on his identification and his being named as payee. Senator Panfilo Lacson observed a regular quarterly withdrawal pattern and Senator Raffy Tulfo cited COA Circular 2015-01 requiring an agency head or designated person to disburse confidential funds.

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4. August 3, 2026·Impeachment Trial - Day 11Supports this claim

   COA auditor Roderick Wamil testified that among the Vice Presidents and Education secretaries he audited from 2014 to 2024, only VP Sara Duterte held confidential-fund appropriations, and he identified her signature on the OVP's December 13, 2022 physical and financial plan (Exhibit P-1-14), which he said did not list specific confidential activities as required by Joint Circular 2015-01. The parties stipulated that the OVP issued four ₱125-million checks to special disbursing officer Gina Acosta on Dec. 20, 2022, Jan. 31, Apr. 18, and Jul. 13, 2023; the defense declined to stipulate to the prosecution's proposal that the December 2022 tranche was spent within 11 days.

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5. August 4, 2026·Impeachment Trial - Day 12Supports this claim

   A state auditor testified that three disbursement vouchers submitted to support the liquidation of DepEd confidential funds were approved by Undersecretary Annalyn M. Sevilla rather than the agency head, which he said violated Joint Circular 2015-01's requirement that the head of agency approve cash advances; VP Sara Duterte was the head of DepEd during the period covered. The witness testified the vouchers listed the disbursements under Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) rather than as allowable confidential-fund expenses under item 4.8, and that the same observation applied to the second- and third-quarter vouchers.

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6. August 5, 2026·Impeachment Trial - Day 13Supports this claim

   A state auditor testified that the OVP and DepEd submitted incomplete confidential-fund records, that the OVP presented no evidence of success for rewards payments as required by Joint Circular 2015-01, and that using medicines to pay intelligence informants was 'not normal' audit practice and was first encountered at the OVP. He testified that an agency's failure to liquidate properly gives rise to a presumption of misuse, while noting the documents reviewed showed no personal knowledge that the Vice President personally received or benefited from the funds. Defense counsel opposed the prosecution's motion for judicial notice of House records, arguing the respondent must be allowed to cross-examine before the TSNs, video recordings, and committee reports are admitted.

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7. August 11, 2026·Impeachment Trial - Day 14Supports this claim

   Presiding Officer Escudero ruled that the COA witness may testify based on her tabulation under Rule 130, Section 3C in relation to Section 7, as an exception to the original document rule. The witness testified that OVP activities charged to confidential funds — including a DepEd partners' appreciation night, Christmas activities, tree planting, gift-giving, wheelchair distribution, medical missions, and coordination meetings — are not among the uses permitted under Section 4.8 of the Joint Circular, and identified VP Sara Duterte as the accountable officer as head of both the OVP and DepEd in 2023.

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8. August 12, 2026·Impeachment Trial - Day 15Supports this claim

   The witness testified that COA disallowed the OVP's P375 million in 2023 confidential funds because Acosta transferred them to Lachica, and laid out the confidential fund budgets: P125 million for the OVP in Q4 2022, P500 million for 2023 (of which P375 million was received), and P150 million for DepEd (against which a P112.5 million cash advance was taken). Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian, citing House transcripts, said Acosta reported that P125 million was given to Lachica in Q4 2022 and that Fajarda, per transcripts dated November 25, 2024, said P37.5 million went to Colonel Nolasco. Gatchalian argued that if a special disbursing officer's transfer of funds to another person was the basis for disallowing the DepEd funds, then the Q4 2022 OVP funds and the entire DepEd confidential funds should likewise be disallowed. The witness agreed that the entire P612.5 million across the OVP and DepEd could potentially be disallowed and that accountable officers would need to return the funds.

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