OVP 2022 plan 'not compliant' with confidential funds joint circular —witness

The physical and financial plan of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) approved in December 2022 was not compliant with a 2015 joint circular detailing the guidelines on the use and reporting of confidential funds, former Commission on Audit’s Intelligence and Confidential Funds Office (COA-ICFAO) state auditor Roderick Wamil said Monday.

Wamil said this on the 11th day of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, when asked by House private prosecutor Atty. Lorna Kapunan about his observations on the presented copy of the 2022 physical and financial plan of the OVP.

“Hindi po siya compliant to the joint circular dahil ‘yung first column is the programs, activities, and projects—hindi po inindicate ng OVP ang kanilang specific confidential activities na kanilang paggagamitan ng confidential fund as required under Item 4.2 of the joint circular,” he answered.

(It is not compliant with the joint circular because the first column lists programs, activities, and projects—yet the OVP did not indicate the specific confidential activities for which the confidential funds would be used, as required under Item 4.2 of the joint circular.)

Section 4.2 of the 2015-01 joint circular of the COA, Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Governance Commission For GOCCs, and Department of National Defense (DND) states that:

• All allocations of confidential funds and/or intelligence funds shall be supported with a physical and financial plan indicating the proposed amount allocated for each program, activity, and project where disbursements pertaining to confidential expenses and intelligence expenses shall be based.

“Based on this submitted physical and financial plan, hindi po nakikita rito ang kanilang specific confidential activity na kanilang pagbabasehan sa kanilang disbursement,” Wamil added.

(Based on this submitted physical and financial plan, it appears that they did not note the specific confidential activities on which their disbursements would be based.)

Wamil also pointed out that there was a discrepancy in the columns on expected outcomes and physical targets on the OVP document.

“Dahil since hindi naman inindicate dito ni OVP ‘yung kanilang specific confidential activities, so hindi po na-match based on the information as presented sa document na ito ‘yung laman ng expected outcomes at physical targets doon sa kanilang specific confidential activities,” he said.

(Since the OVP did not indicate their specific confidential activities here, the expected outcomes and physical targets were not matched with the specific confidential activities based on the information presented in this document.)

Approved by Duterte

Wamil likewise confirmed that the document, approved on December 13, 2022, was signed by Duterte.

“Ang ibig sabihin po ng ‘approved by’ ay in-approve po nung nakapirma ‘yung contents nung physical and financial plan based on that document,” he said.

(‘Approved by’ means that the person who signed it approved the contents of the physical and financial plan based on that document.)

Asked by Kapunan why he is familiar with the signature of Duterte, Wamil said, “Dahil among their submissions po ay ‘yung kanilang specimen signatures at kasama po doon ang specimen signature po ni Vice President.”

(Because among their submissions were their specimen signatures, and included there was the Vice President’s specimen signature.)

“At ‘yung kanyang pirma doon sa specimen signature submitted ay kaparehas ng pirma niya dito sa physical and financial plan na ito,” he added.

(And the signature on the submitted specimen matches the signature on this physical and financial plan.)

When it comes to an OVP's certification dated January 2022, Wamil also said there was a discrepancy in the dates involving the funds.

He said he observed that the certification was issued in January 2022, but the OVP’s cash advance was for the fourth quarter of the year.

He also noted that the document was notarized in January 2023.

“Based on this document po, yes ma'am, may discrepancy ‘yung dates,” he said.

(Based on this document, yes ma'am, there is a discrepancy in the dates.)

Presented by the House prosecution panel, Wamil is currently testifying on Article 1 of the Articles of Impeachment pertaining to the alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds by Duterte—P500 million from the OVP, and P112.5 million from the Department of Education (DepEd). —AOL, GMA News