By Jose Cielito Reganit | Philippine News Agency
The Office of the Vice President’s physical and financial plan (PFP) for its P125-million confidential fund in the final quarter of 2022 placed the entire allocation under a broad “Good Governance Program” without identifying any surveillance operation by number, location, or cost, the OVP’s former special disbursing officer (SDO) testified on Monday.
Under direct examination, Gina Acosta, identified in the PFP as project accountable officer, confirmed that she prepared and signed the document with inputs from the office’s security officer, Col. Raymund Dante Lachica.
Private prosecutor Atty. Amando Virgil Ligutan initially established that the plan was a prerequisite for release.
The requirement is stipulated in Joint Circular No. 2015-01, jointly issued by the Commission on Audit, Department of Budget and Management, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Governance Commission for GOCCs, and Department of National Defense.
Section 4.2 requires confidential and intelligence fund allocations to be supported by a PFP indicating the proposed amount for each program, activity, and project on which disbursements will be based.
Section 5.2.2 requires agencies to state in the accomplishment report the specific details of expenditures by object, as indicated in the PFP, while Section 6.1.1 provides that cash advances must be used for a specific legal purpose related to confidential or intelligence activities.
Acosta acknowledged her role in preparing the 2022 plan but said she relied on Lachica’s operational guidance, “Kasama ko po ang aming security officer, Your Honor, kasi sa kanya po ako nanghingi ng mga inputs or guidelines in preparation for the physical and financial plan.”
The sole program label shown in the 2022 plan was a “Good Governance Program,” which Acosta said covered the OVP’s programs for the year, citing Libreng Sakay, tree planting, and financial and medical assistance.
She said the office conceptualized the program in coordination with Lachica when the Vice President requested the confidential funds.
When asked whether studies had been conducted in developing the program, Acosta said: “Wala akong personal knowledge, Your Honor.”
When confronted with the lack of listed activities under the program, Acosta said: “Wala po akong nilagay na detalye, Your Honor, kasi sa Joint Circular, wala naman pong nakalagay dito na i-itemize.”
Acosta said that the details were contained in the attachments the OVP sent to the Commission on Audit, which she said came from Lachica.
She said all details had to be provided by Lachica since he was the expert and was the one on the ground to implement the programs funded by the confidential funds.
Asked by Senate Presiding Officer Francis Escudero whether she accepted all of Lachica’s submissions for the liquidation of the confidential funds, including tree-planting activities as part of a good governance program, Acosta answered in the affirmative.
She later admitted: “Generic po ang nasa physical and financial plan, Your Honor.”
While the plan contained physical target descriptions—identified areas where surveillance would be conducted and monitored and the percentage of activities implemented without untoward security incidents—no numerical target was entered for either field.
Asked whether the actual number appeared, Acosta said: “Wala pa, Your Honor.”
The court summarized her explanation as meaning that the number and percentage were absent because the Special Allotment Release Order (SARO), which allocated P125 million to the program, had only just been issued.
Its generic wording meant that specific activities appeared only later in the accomplishment report, Acosta explained, maintaining that the later report was based on Joint Circular No. 2015-01.
Acosta also confirmed that the plan was presented to Vice President Sara Duterte, who later approved it.
“Inaprubahan po,” she said when asked if the Vice President approved the generic program.
The testimony was presented to establish a clear documentary gap: the plan used to support the release fixed the total amount but did not disclose the specific surveillance operations, their locations and costs, or numerical performance targets. (PNA)
