Manila: House prosecution panel adviser and spokesperson Robert Ace Barbers announced that the prosecution's initial evidence has shifted the burden of evidence to Vice President Sara Duterte. This development is related to the disbursements and liquidation of her PHP612.5-million confidential funds while concurrently serving as Vice President and Secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd).
According to Philippines News Agency, State Auditor Roderick Wamil testified that the Office of the Vice President's (OVP) original and revised submissions failed to fully identify recipients, specify confidential activities undertaken, and provide supporting proof for several payments. These submissions were part of the evidence presented before the Senate impeachment court, with the acknowledgement receipts being among the 845 documents submitted by the OVP to the Commission on Audit (COA) for liquidating its first PHP125 million confidential fund release, covering December 21 to 31, 2022.
The prosecution also revealed additional names listed as recipients of confidential fund disbursements, which included Renan Piattos, Nova Santos, Mico P. Harina, Janice Marie Revilla, Patty Ting, Andy Lim, Alejandro Pikit, Feonna Biong, Sisfrunio Balsac, and Gabriel Bisaya. These findings contributed to the COA's Notice of Suspension on the OVP's liquidation of its first PHP125 million confidential fund release.
Barbers emphasized the need for the defense to provide substantial counter-evidence to challenge the claims made by the prosecution. He suggested that the defense may need to establish the identities of the individuals behind the aliases and clarify the intelligence information or services provided by each recipient.
Barbers further stated that unresolved questions regarding the allocation of public funds remained, specifically whether they were used for authorized confidential operations. The senator-judges will ultimately decide if the prosecution has established the allegations and if the defense has sufficiently countered the evidence presented.
