Sara Duterte camp sought 'exemption' from confi fund audit rules — COA witness

The camp of Vice President Sara Duterte sought an exemption from a 2015 Commission on Audit (COA) joint circular that sets the guidelines for auditing confidential funds, a state auditor testified before the Senate impeachment court on Tuesday.

Lawyer Roderick Wamil, a former state auditor of the Commission on Audit–Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (COA-ICFAO), said he attended a meeting with representatives of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) in September 2023.

During direct examination by private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan, Wamil testified that the September 2023 meeting was attended by OVP Chief of Staff lawyer Zuleika Lopez; lawyer Michael Poa, then DepEd chief of staff and spokesperson; COA Assistant Commissioner and ICFAO head Nilda Plaras; and ICFAO official Gloria Camora.

In that meeting, OVP and DepEd officials allegedly requested that the COA issue an "audit query" instead of an Audit Observation Memorandum (AOM) for the agencies' disbursement of confidential funds. At the time, Vice President Duterte was concurrently serving as Education secretary.

"They (Lopez and Poa) asked po if instead of an AOM, in case may audit findings, ay audit query na lang po iyong i-issue sa kanila. I am not familiar with an audit query because it is not provided under Joint Circular 2015-01," Wamil said.

(Lopez and Poa asked whether, instead of an AOM, an audit query could be issued to them in case there were audit findings. I am not familiar with an audit query because it is not provided for under Joint Circular No. 2015-01.)

Wamil said the COA rejected the request.

"ICFAO did not agree to it since it was not sanctioned by Joint Circular 2015-01," he said.

Under COA rules, the three most common audit issuances are an AOM, a Notice of Suspension (NS), and a Notice of Disallowance (ND).

An AOM informs a government agency of audit deficiencies and requires it to submit explanations, justifications, or supporting documents for questioned disbursements.

A Notice of Suspension is issued when additional documents are needed before a transaction can be validated, while a Notice of Disallowance formally disapproves an expenditure found to violate laws or audit rules.

During cross-examination, Poa, who now serves as defense counsel, asked Wamil whether the Vice President had sought an exemption from COA rules governing the audit of her confidential funds.

Wamil replied: "Ang humingi po ng, actually, meron nag-request po [from OVP] na kung pwedeng audit query na lang 'yung i-issue instead of AOM."

(The OVP representatives requested that perhaps an audit query be issued instead of an AOM.)

"So, parang exemption po 'yun doon sa provision ng Joint Circular [on use of confidential funds]," he added.

(That would effectively be an exemption from the provisions of the Joint Circular.)

Poa then clarified his question, asking whether the OVP had submitted liquidation reports and responded to the AOMs issued by the COA regarding its use of confidential funds.

Wamil answered in the affirmative but qualified his response.

"Yes, pero hindi pa rin po sila compliant sa requirements (Yes, [they submitted the documents], but they were still not compliant with the requirements [of the circular])," he said.

Earlier in his testimony, Wamil said the OVP failed to submit documentary evidence showing that information provided by informants resulted in successful intelligence-gathering or surveillance operations to support the disbursement of P129 million in confidential funds during the first two quarters of 2023.

According to Wamil, the lack of documentary support violated the requirements of Joint Circular No. 2015-01 governing the use and audit of confidential funds.— MCG, GMA News