VP Sara order made P125M 'transfer' illegal, says House prosecution panel
MANILA, Philippines — The House prosecution panel said Gina Acosta's handover of P125 million in confidential funds was illegal from the outset because Vice President Sara Duterte ordered the money transferred to an official who had no authority to receive it.
This comes a day after the former disbursing officer of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) told the impeachment court that Duterte instructed her to "transfer" the cash to Col. Raymund Dante Lachica, then the head of the vice president's security detail, in 2022.
Acosta said she encashed the check on Dec. 20, 2022 and turned over the full amount to Lachica the same day. Upon questioning, Acosta said this was at the vice president's instruction, as Lachica was the "expert ... on the ground" who knew how to "implement the confidential activities."
Rep. Joel Chua (Manila, 3rd District), a member of the prosecution panel, said Acosta's testimony established that her job as special disbursing officer was reduced to approving paperwork while others controlled the funds.
"Yesterday [we saw] Miss Acosta's only job was merely ministerial, or as if she was just a mere signatory, because she did not understand what was in the [spending] plan. She was only there to withdraw the funds," Chua said in mixed English and Filipino at a press conference on Tuesday, August 18.
Government rules require that confidential funds be drawn and spent by a designated disbursing officer and bar transfers from one accountable officer to another.
Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong (Lanao del Sur, 1st District), a spokesperson of the panel, argued the transfer was an illegal delegation of duty.
"From the very start it was transferred illegally... The expenses that followed are already by nature illegal," he said.
Prosecutors also questioned Lachica's multiple roles, saying he had helped draw up the spending plan for the P125 million in confidential funds, and later submitted the documents used to account for the funds.
"In the ordinary course of government, we know that a cashier cannot also be the auditor," Adiong said.
The lawmaker said Acosta's testimony showed "what appears to be a modus operandi" with the practice of how confidential funds were moved and spent at the OVP.
"This only points to one thing: The one who is really calling the shots and giving orders to the two individuals, Miss Gina Acosta being the SDO and then Colonel Lachica as the one who implemented these confidential funds, is the vice president," Adiong said.
Chua also noted that Acosta had acknowledged she had no background in intelligence work, which he said raises the question of why she was appointed to the role.
Acosta essentially shared the same information two years ago before the House committee on good government, when she told lawmakers she had left the handling of the confidential funds to Lachica on Duterte's instruction.
Prosecutor Amando Virgil Ligutan repeatedly returned to that House hearing on Monday, reading portions of the transcript back to her and playing recordings of her answers to have her affirm them before the impeachment court.
Acosta's explanation was that the joint circular governing confidential funds does not require a disbursing officer to personally go on the ground and release the funds. She said she also had no clearance for or knowledge of confidential operations.
Court presiding officer Sen. Chiz Escudero declared Acosta a hostile witness — the first in the trial — after she confirmed she is still employed at the OVP on co-terminus status and would lose her post if Duterte is removed.
The formal designation allowed the prosecution to ask leading questions on direct examination.
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