Coa docs show VP Duterte has always had secret funds – Chua

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte has shown “repeated reliance” on confidential funds since serving as Davao City mayor to heading the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, House prosecutor Rep. Joel Chua said in a House press briefing on Tuesday.

According to Chua, the House prosecution team thinks the pattern “warrants scrutiny.”

He pointed to the sharp increase in confidential funds during Duterte’s tenure as Davao City mayor, followed by confidential fund allocations for the OVP and DepEd under her leadership.

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“Hindi mo alam kung ganun nga, pero kung titingnan mo parang may pattern,” Chua said.

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(“I don’t know if that’s how it is, but if you look at it, there’s a pattern.”)

READ: Records show OVP ‘resistance’ to secret fund scrutiny – Tolosa

Context

Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, House trial spokesperson, raised a broader question over the issue.

“Makikita mo ‘yung konteksto. Ang tanong ngayon: Bakit napaka-importante itong confidential funds para sa kanya?” Alonto Adiong said.

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(“You can see the context. The question now is: Why are confidential funds so important to her?”)

He pointed to Commission on Audit records previously cited in House proceedings, which showed Davao City incurred P2.697 billion in confidential expenses from 2016 to 2022, when Duterte was mayor.

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That amount rose from P144 million in 2016 to P293 million in 2017, her first full year as mayor, then to P420 million in 2018 and P460 million annually from 2019 to 2022.

Chua said the pattern continued after Duterte became vice president, with confidential funds allocated to both the OVP and DepEd under her leadership.

The OVP received P500 million in confidential funds from December 2022 to September 2023, while DepEd received P112.5 million in 2023 when Duterte was education secretary.

The combined P612.5 million is under scrutiny in the first article of impeachment.

On being elected vice president in 2022, Duterte, Chua pointed out, initially preferred heading the Department of National Defense when she was being considered for a Cabinet post, before she was eventually appointed education secretary.

He cited the preference as another circumstance in questioning Duterte’s apparent interest in national security-related functions and confidential funds.

Continuity of personnel

He also pointed to the continuity of personnel who had handled her confidential funds.

Duterte’s former OVP special disbursing officer (SDO) was Gina Acosta, who had worked under her in Davao City before assuming a similar role at the OVP.

Acosta’s testimony on the OVP’s confidential funds is now part of the evidence before the Senate impeachment court.

READ: Duterte trial: Acosta quizzed over release of OVP’s CF to Lachica

On Monday, she testified Monday that Duterte had instructed her to turn over P125 million in cash to Col. Raymond Dante Lachica, then Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group chief.

For his part, Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr., House prosecution legal spokesperson and counsel, said the continuity between Duterte’s Davao years and the OVP was relevant because the Senate impeachment court had allowed prosecutors to explore evidence that could establish a pattern.

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According to Tolosa, it was “irrelevant” that the defense had objected to the prosecution’s inquiry into Duterte’s earlier confidential funds. But the Senate impeachment court presiding officer, Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero, allowed the line of questioning as it might establish a pattern. /atm