Manila: Even if Vice President Sara Z. Duterte returned the amounts disallowed by the Commission on Audit (COA), repayment would not automatically extinguish the separate constitutional questions being tried by the Senate Impeachment Court, private prosecutor Benjamin 'Jay' Tolosa Jr. said Wednesday.
According to Philippines News Agency, Tolosa was asked at a press briefing whether the prosecution's confidential funds case would be weakened if Duterte restituted the disallowed amount for the Office of the Vice President (OVP), which reportedly totaled around PHP448 million. Tolosa clarified that the COA process for recovering improperly supported expenditures differs from impeachment, which assesses whether official conduct constitutes a betrayal of public trust or another constitutional ground for removal.
Tolosa explained that their allegation involves the misuse and fraudulent liquidation of the confidential funds, which they argue already constitutes betrayal of public trust. He noted that while an aggrieved party may appeal the auditor's decision, the final determination would rest with the impeachment court.
Deputy Speaker Paolo Ortega V indicated that the prosecution would continue to scrutinize the flow of funds and the identities of their ultimate recipients. Ortega raised concerns about the reported use of medicines as rewards for alleged confidential fund informants, questioning whether such payments were consistent with the intended purpose of confidential operations.
COA state auditor Roderick Wamil testified that he had never encountered cases where medicines were given as rewards for intelligence information until he audited the confidential funds of the OVP under Duterte. He noted the OVP's liquidation reports reflected about PHP122 million worth of medicines charged against confidential funds, a practice he described as 'not normal' based on his nearly 10 years with the Commission on Audit's Intelligence and Confidential Fund Audit Office.
Tolosa further highlighted the audit issue, emphasizing that the OVP failed to provide documents proving the medicines had been purchased. He pointed out that the OVP submitted only acknowledgment receipts instead of procurement documents, such as official receipts or sales invoices.
Wamil also testified that 'provision of medical and food aid' is not among the allowable confidential expenses under the regulations governing the use of intelligence and confidential funds. The alleged misuse and liquidation of PHP612.5 million in confidential funds are the basis of Article I of the impeachment complaint against Duterte.
