Lachica ready to testify if lawfully called to VP Sara Duterte impeachment trial

Colonel Raymund Lachica on Tuesday said he is prepared to appear and testify if he is lawfully invited to the Senate impeachment proceedings involving Vice President Sara Duterte.

“I have never refused to appear or testify; if lawfully called, I am prepared to tell the truth, subject to applicable laws and security restrictions,” Lachica said in a message to GMA News' Marisol Abdurahman.

His statement came amid the possibility that he could be invited to appear before the Senate, which is hearing the impeachment case against Duterte.

Lachica was the former group commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Security and Protection Group (ASPG), previously known as the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG).

Who is Col. Raymund Lachica, mentioned at VP Sara Duterte impeachment trial?

He was relieved from the post and reassigned back to the Philippine Army in October 2025, following his alleged involvement in the supposed misuse of confidential funds by the Vice President.

In a House hearing in 2024, Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd) disbursement officers said millions of pesos in confidential funds were transferred to Lachica and Colonel Dennis Nolasco of VPSPG.

According to OVP special disbursing officer Gina Acosta, Vice President Sara Duterte gave the go-ahead for her to turn over P125 million in confidential funds to Lachica in 2022.

Meanwhile, DepEd special disbursement officer Edward Fajarda said that the department in 2023 used P112.5 million in confidential funds and withdrew P37.5 million from a bank, which it released to Nolasco in weekly tranches.

During the impeachment trial on August 17 this year, Acosta reaffirmed her 2024 testimony that it was the Vice President who asked her to disburse the P125-million confidential funds to Lachica.

Acosta said she released a total of P500 million of confidential funds in 2022 and 2023 to Lachica on the orders of Duterte, as well as Lachica’s expertise on security matters even if existing guidelines do not allow it.

Lachica in March denied the allegations against him. —RF, GMA News