Witness: Confidential ops not part of Sara Duterte's mandate as VP, DepEd chief

Confidential operations are not part of the mandate of the Office of the Vice President or the secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd), prosecution witness Xylene del Campo of the Commission on Audit’s Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (ICFAO) said Wednesday.

Del Campo made the testimony during Day 15 of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte when asked by private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan if confidential operations were part of the OVP or the DepEd secretary’s mandate.

Kapunan cited the information on the OVP’s website which states that “the Office of the Vice President performs executive, ceremonial, and social services functions, collaborating with stakeholders and organizations in both the public and private sectors, to develop and promote programs that uplift the lives of the Filipino people.”

“Based po doon sa nakalagay sa mandato nila hindi po (It is not part of their mandate),” Del Campo said.

Kapunan also asked if the conduct of confidential operations is part of the mandate of the Education chief.

“The DepEd Secretary is in charge of basic, elementary, and secondary education. That's the function. Kasama ba sa mandato ng isang secretary of the Department of Education ang confidential activities (Are confidential activities included in the mandate of the secretary of the Department of Education)?” she said.

Del Campo replied by saying “Kung based po sa mandato po nila, hindi po (Based on their mandate, it is not).”

Likewise, Del Campo also said that tree planting, Christmas parties, and other granting of social services cannot be paid for or reimbursed using confidential fund as provided under the Joint Circular 2015-01 governing the use of confidential and intelligence funds.

Del Campo was referring to the December 13 to 18, 2022 expenses of the OVP for tree planting, Christmas parties and activities, wheelchair distribution, among others which were used by the OVP to liquidate its 2022 confidential fund expenses.

The OVP, however, only received its P125 million confidential fund allocation for 2022 on December 21, 2022 or after the conduct of the December 13 to 18 activities.

“Under the allowable expenses of [Section] 4.8 enumeration of the Joint Circular, hindi po ito kasama (these are not included),” del Campo said.

She was referring to Joint Circular’s Section 4.8 which provides that confidential fund can only be used for the following:

• purchase of information necessary for the formulation and implementation of program, activities and projects relevant to the national security and peace and order;
• rental of transport vehicle related to confidential activities;
• rentals and the incidental expenses related to the maintenance of safehouses;
• purchase or rental of supplies, materials and equipment for confidential operations that cannot be done through regular procedures without compromising the information gathering activity concerned;
• payment of rewards to informers supported with documents evidencing the success of the information gathering and/or surveillance activities on
• account of the information given by the informer and
• to uncover/prevent illegal activities that pose a clear and present danger to agency personnel/property, or other facilities and resources under the agency protection, done in coordination with the appropriate law enforcement agencies

Likewise, Del Campo cited the Joint Circular’s provision prohibiting the use of confidential fund as reimbursement which reads: “In no case shall cash advance for confidential or intelligence be utilized as reimbursement of the expenses prior to the granting of cash advance."

“Hindi po siya chargeable sa confidential fund po (These are not chargeable for confidential fund),” Del Campo added. —AOL, GMA News