Sen. Marcos points out lack of COA findings on fake names, stolen funds

MANILA, Philippines —Senator-judge Imee Marcos in Duterte’s impeachment trial on Wednesday pointed out the lack of findings by the Commission on Audit (COA) on the use of fake names and whether the confidential funds allotted to Vice President Sara Duterte were stolen.

“Did the Notice of Suspension indicate any personal use or misappropriation of the Office of the Vice President’s confidential funds?” Senator Marcos asked COA auditor Roderick Wamil.

Wamil was presented by the prosecution team to testify on Dutere’s alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds released to the OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd) when she was its secretary.

“That is a presumption. It does not have to be stated expressly because it is presumed, Your Honor,” the witness said, citing a 2015 joint circular on the release, use and audit of confidential and intelligence funds.

When Marcos insisted that there was no such findings by the COA, Wamil repeated that because it was presumed, there was no need to expressly state it in their audit.

“I understand that, but it’s not there,” the senator stressed. “Is there any COA finding in the various AOMs (Audit Observation Memorandum) were stolen?

At this point, the state auditor pointed out that there was a prima facie evidence that the funds were used for personal use and benefit based on the joint circular.

Lack of COA findings

Before this, Marcos zeroed in on the absence of a COA finding, saying that the use of fictitious names in acknowledgment receipts was prohibited.

Wamil, who audited the OVP and DepEd’s confidential funds, explained that they had no basis to come up with that finding because it was not the focus of his audit.

“So the answer is no? There is nothing stating that the ARs [acknowledgment receipts] were fictitious,” Marcos said, adding that the COA did not flag the unusual names in the receipts.

“Because it is common for unusual names to be used when confidential or intelligence funds are involved,” she further added.

The state auditor reiterated that what the COA only did was compliance audit, and that there was no mention in the circular about the use of aliases. /mr

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