LIVE UPDATES: Sara Duterte Impeachment Trial (August 11, 2026)

The House prosecution team on Tuesday lamented that they were allegedly stood up by the defense team of Vice President Sara Duterte after they were directed by the Senate impeachment court last week to meet to compare documents related to confidential funds.

The direct examination of private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan on Commission on Audit's (COA) Xylene del Campo proceeded after almost one hour.

Del Campo, who is from COA's Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (ICFAO), took the witness stand to testify about the disbursements of confidential funds by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) during Duterte’s tenure.

Prosecution

Del Campo testified on the COA’s affirming of a notice of disallowance (ND) it issued on the OVP’s 2022 disbursement of P73 million out of P125 million confidential funds in 2022, saying that Duterte and two other OVP officials are responsible for such release, marred by lack of documentary evidence of payment, success in gathering confidential information and evidence that will prove that supplies were indeed purchase for a confidential operation.

An ND is issued when an expenditure is “either irregular, unnecessary, excessive, extravagant, or unconscionable" and orders the concerned agency to return such amount to government coffers.

Del Campo said the 2022 OVP disbursement of its confidential funds even included reimbursements of its December 13 to 18 expenses from Christmas parties, tree planting, and thanksgiving activities which occurred before December 21, or the day the OVP received its P125 million confidential fund allocation.

In addition, Del Campo said the COA issued an ND on the entire P375 million in confidential funds disbursed by the OVP for 2023 because the office's special disbursing officer, Gina Acosta, transferred her mandate to distribute the funds to Colonel Raymund Lachica of the Vice Presidential Security Group.

Del Campo invoked Joint Circular 2015-01 governing the use of confidential and intelligence fund which states that “cash advances for confidential or intelligence fund should be drawn by duly designated and bonded SDOs or head of agency for the implementation of a program, activity, and project chargeable to the corresponding confidential or intelligence fund of the agency, upon approval of the head of agency."

It added that, “under no circumstance shall it be used for liquidation of the previous cash advance or be transferred from one accountable [officer] to another.”

Likewise, Del Campo testified that OVP’s P375 million confidential fund spending in 2023 went to certain Miggy Mango, Jay Kamote and Matthew Keso, among others, and that such disbursements were not backed up by documentary evidence as required by the 2015 Joint Circular.

The ND issued by the COA on the P375 million confidential fund disbursement stated that certifications and Protective Intelligence Operations reports did not specify the particular accomplishments demonstrating the success of the information gathering and/or surveillance activities directly related to the confidential operations undertaken as required by Item 4.8.5.b of the Joint Circular that necessitated the payments of reward.

Further, the same ND states that the Vice President and three other OVP officials are responsible for such improper fund disbursement.

DepEd

For the P75 million confidential fund of the DepEd, Del Campo said that these were marked by three batches of disbursement covering Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao all within the same day.

The prosecution panel said this disbursement pattern is physically impossible and would make DepEd SDO Eduard Fajarda like "Superman," who can fly to many places, since the Joint Circular only allows either the head of the agency or the SDO to disburse the confidential fund.

Del Campo also cited Fajarda’s earlier admission in a House inquiry that he transferred the duty of disbursing confidential funds of the DepEd to Colonel Dennis Nolasco, a violation of the 2015 Joint Circular.

Still, Del Campo said that the DepEd’s disbursement of its P75 million confidential fund for the first quarter of 2023 is in order since COA’s evaluation did not find any irregularity so far.

Del Campo, however, also said that such initial evaluation or issuance of a credit notice can still be revoked if new evidence is unearthed within the three years since the credit notice.

Defense

Defense team spokesperson Michael Poa welcomed Del Campo’s findings on DepEd confidential fund disbursements, saying this has been their point all along.

Poa also said that the ND issued by the COA on OVP’s P375 million confidential fund disbursement is still subject to appeal.

Impeachment court

Senator-Judge Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri on Tuesday suggested moving the impeachment trial in the afternoon to give the prosecution and defense teams more time to present their arguments.

Zubiri said that the legislative session at the Senate may be conducted at 10 a.m. instead, considering that it may last only for a few hours.

After the session, he said that the trial may begin at 3 p.m., “so that we are not hampered by our legislative calendar.”

Impeachment court spokesperson Regie Tongol on Tuesday said that it is up to the senator-judges to explain their absence from the impeachment trial to the public. —Llanesca T. Panti with reports from Giselle Ombay/LDF, GMA News

The Department of Education’s (DepEd) disbursement of its P75 million confidential fund in the first and second quarters of 2023 has so far been found in order, a state auditor said Tuesday.

Prosecution witness Xylene del Campo of the Commission on Audit’s Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (COA-ICFAO) made the statement during Day 14 of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Impeachment court spokesperson Regie Tongol on Tuesday said that it is up to the senator-judges to explain their absence from the impeachment trial to the public.

“It's hard to draw any conclusion from the actions of the senator-judges. Of course there are matters personal to them that only they can relay to the public—the reason why they are late or absent, we leave it to them and to their respective staff to relay these matters to the public,” Tongol said in a press conference.

Is he Superman?

Private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan posed this question after prosecution witness Xylene del Campo of the Commission on Audit (COA) testified before the Senate impeachment court that the disbursement of the Department of Education’s (DepEd) ?75 million confidential fund in 2023 was marred by payouts that happened nationwide within the same day.

Del Campo said there were at least three batches of disbursements that happened within the same day as stated by the acknowledgment receipts (ARs) submitted by the DepEd then under the leadership of Vice President Sara Duterte to COA:

• multiple disbursements in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao all dated February 21, 2023
• multiple disbursements in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao all dated February 25, 2023 and
• multiple disbursements in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao all dated dated March 15, 2023

Del Campo said the special disbursement officer (SDO) for DepEd during this time was Eduard Fajarda.

House prosecutor and Akbayan party-list Rep. Rep. Chel Diokno on Tuesday hit back at “trolls” linking him to the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) confidential funds, stressing that he is not the “Jose Diokno Jr.” named in an acknowledgment receipt presented during Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial.

In a Facebook post, Diokno said his detractors have long used the issue against him following the disclosure of the names of purported recipients of the OVP’s confidential funds.

The camp of Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday argued that she cannot be prosecuted for grave threats while her impeachment trial is ongoing, saying the criminal charge involves allegations that are also part of the impeachment case against her.

Lawyer Paul Lawrence Lim said Duterte, as a sitting impeachable officer, cannot be prosecuted for an alleged offense that is also the subject of impeachment proceedings.

Senator-Judge Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri on Tuesday manifested to move the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte back in the afternoon to enable the prosecution and defense teams more time to present their arguments. 

“I could see that having the sessions for the impeachment court in the morning, we have to put a halt because of the sessions in the afternoon,” Zubiri lamented.

“Discussions such as these are important. When you present evidence and the cross will be done by the counsels for the respondent, hindi po mapuputol ‘yung kanilang discussion. Hanggang sawa tayo, pwede tayo dito from 3 to 10 ng gabi,” he added.

(Discussions such as these are important. When you present evidence and the cross will be done by the counsels for the respondent, their discussion will not be interrupted. We can hold the trial as long as we want. We can hold it from 3 to 10 p.m.) 

State auditor Xylene del Campo of the Commission on Audit - Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (COA-ICFAO) on Tuesday said Vice President Sara Duterte's directive to transfer the disbursement of cash advances to her former head of security violated the joint circular on confidential funds.

Del Campo said this on Day 14 of Duterte's impeachment trial when asked by private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan regarding her observations on the admission of Office of the Vice President (OVP) special disbursing officer Gina Acosta during a previous House committee hearing.

The COA auditor recalled Acosta saying that she gave the disbursement of confidential funds to Colonel Raymund Dante Lachica, former head of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG), under Duterte's directive.

"This is a direct violation po ng joint circular, specifically 'yung item 6.1.1 po," said Del Campo, a witness presented by the House prosecution panel. 

Names resembling a root crop, fruit and cheese were among those listed as recipients of confidential fund disbursements by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) in 2023, a state auditor testified Tuesday.

Commission on Audit (COA) state auditor Xylene del Campo of the Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (ICFAO) made the disclosure on Day 14 of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

The House prosecution team on Tuesday lamented that they were allegedly stood up by the Defense team of Vice President Sara Duterte after they were directed by the Senate impeachment court last week to meet to compare documents related to confidential funds.

At the start of the 14th day of the impeachment trial, private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan made a manifestation, saying they sent messages to the Defense team to identify which day they should meet last week to compare the exhibits.