By Jose Cielito Reganit | Philippine News Agency
The House prosecution panel on Monday rolled in 15 boxes of documentary evidence as it prepared to present thousands of records in the Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte over her alleged misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds.
Lawyer Lorna Kapunan, counsel for the panel of House prosecutors, gave the impeachment court a preview of the documentary evidence supporting Article I of the complaint before the prosecution called its first witness from the Commission on Audit (COA).
“Lastly, Your Honors, please, as you can see in front of you, we have 15 boxes, 15 boxes of confidential fund [records],” Kapunan told the court.
She said the records consisted of liquidation documents submitted by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) to the COA in support of the liquidation of their confidential funds.
The documents cover P500 million in OVP confidential funds for the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first three quarters of 2023, and P112.5 million in DepEd confidential funds for the first three quarters of 2023.
Kapunan said former COA Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (ICFAO) State Auditor Roderick Wamil would identify 50 exhibits during his testimony.
She added that Wamil would identify 3,664 documents, including 3,617 acknowledgment receipts.
To streamline the proceedings, Kapunan asked the impeachment court to stipulate common exhibits offered by both the prosecution and the defense.
She said the proposed stipulations covered 31 common exhibits involving the OVP and 19 involving the DepEd.
Lawyer Michael Poa, counsel for Duterte, requested a recess to review the proposed stipulations.
“Your Honors, we have no problem stipulating, but we also, due to the voluminous nature of the documents, we just want to make sure we’re also ensuring the rights of our client,” Poa said.
Presiding Officer Senator-judge Francis Escudero granted the request “in the interest of abbreviating the proceedings.”
Many of the records are expected to relate to the liquidation documents examined during the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability’s 2024 inquiry into Duterte’s confidential funds.
That investigation uncovered acknowledgment receipts bearing names such as “Mary Grace Piattos,” “Milky Sekuya” and “Kokoy Villamin,” which the prosecution alleges were among the fictitious recipients used to justify confidential fund disbursements.
It also cited Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) certifications showing no matching birth records for many listed recipients and National Bureau of Investigation findings that several acknowledgment receipts appeared to have been signed by the same hand. (PNA)
