Manila: A Commission on Audit (COA) auditor on Wednesday informed the Senate impeachment court that Vice President Sara Duterte was the only vice president and Department of Education (DepEd) secretary whose confidential fund liquidation documents were submitted to the commission's Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (ICFAO).
According to Philippines News Agency, COA ICFAO Supervising Auditor Xylene Mae Del Campo, the House prosecution's latest witness, took over the audit from state auditor Roderick Wamil, who had earlier testified on the commission's findings before being reassigned to another COA office in 2024. Del Campo noted that during her nearly 12 years with the ICFAO, the Office of the Vice President (OVP) submitted confidential fund liquidation documents only during Duterte's term.
The confidential funds under scrutiny amount to PHP612.5 million, consisting of PHP500 million allocated to the OVP from December 2022 to September 2023 and PHP112.5 million released to the DepEd while Duterte was education secretary in 2023. Del Campo assumed Wamil's audit of the OVP's confidential funds covering Dec. 21 to 31, 2022, and the first to third quarters of 2023. She also took over the audit of DepEd's confidential funds for the first to third quarters of 2023.
Private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan outlined the scope of Del Campo's testimony, highlighting her evaluation of the OVP's response to a Notice of Suspension dated Dec. 13, 2023, which prosecutors said remained noncompliant with Joint Circular 2015-01, the rules governing the use and audit of intelligence and confidential funds. Del Campo's evaluation and recommendation led to the issuance of a Notice of Disallowance dated Aug. 8, 2024, covering the OVP's confidential funds for Dec. 21 to 31, 2022.
Kapunan added that Del Campo continued the audit of the OVP's responses to Audit Observation Memoranda covering the first to third quarters of 2023, which later resulted in another Notice of Disallowance dated March 31, 2026. She is expected to testify on the continuation of the audit of DepEd's confidential funds for the same period.
Del Campo explained that the ICFAO conducts post-audits and reviews the utilization of intelligence and confidential funds only after transactions have been completed and the funds have been spent. The prosecution also began authenticating documentary evidence through Del Campo, starting with a tabulation and 845 acknowledgment receipts covering the OVP's liquidation of confidential funds from Dec. 21 to 31, 2022.
Senate impeachment court presiding officer Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero directed Del Campo to continue reviewing the records after the hearing and resume her testimony on Aug. 10 due to time constraints. Meanwhile, House prosecution panel adviser and spokesperson Robert Ace Barbers stated that the testimony presented before the Senate impeachment court strengthened the public's demand for accountability.
In a press briefing, Barbers cited Wamil's testimony, which indicated that Duterte's appeal of the COA Notice of Disallowance had been denied, making the ruling executory. Barbers emphasized that the issue now is whether a final ruling of the country's highest constitutional auditing body would be obeyed. He stressed that no public official should be exempt from complying with an executory COA decision.
Barbers also remarked that the size of the confidential fund allocations to the OVP warrants greater public scrutiny and stricter accountability, emphasizing that the higher the amount of public funds entrusted to an official, the greater the responsibility to account for every peso and to comply with every lawful directive issued by the proper authorities.
