MANILA — Former Office of the Vice President special disbursing officer Gina Acosta told the impeachment court she released P500 million in confidential funds to a security officer and had no personal knowledge of how the money was ultimately spent.
Acosta testified that Vice President Sara Duterte did not personally handle the funds, and that OVP security head Col. Raymund Dante Lachica was the officer managing them.
Four tranches of P125 million
Acosta said she released four cash tranches of P125 million each — P500 million in total — to Lachica between December 2022 and the third quarter of 2023. GMA News reported that the releases went to a non-accountable officer.
Rappler reported that Acosta told the court the Vice President ordered P125 million turned over to the security officer. Acosta separately said she did not know why she had been chosen to disburse the funds in the first place, telling the court “I don’t know” when asked.
Receipts she could not verify
Under questioning from senator-judges, Acosta acknowledged she did not personally witness Lachica make the payments attributed to the individuals named on the liquidation receipts. Those names included Antonio Pagong, Timon Andrew Pusa, Don Piang, Shane Ngitngit and Xuniso Belat.
She said she relied on Lachica’s assurances and on the documentation he provided when the funds were liquidated. Philstar reported that additional unusual names surfaced on the receipts as questioning continued, and that senator-judges pressed her on a cash trail leading to the Vice President’s guard.
A hostile witness
Acosta appeared as the prosecution’s first hostile witness when her testimony began on Aug. 17, and returned to the stand as the trial continued the following week. Former Kabataan party-list representative Ridon described her testimony as a “smoking gun” in the case against the Vice President.
The prosecution also raised P2.6 billion in confidential funds from Duterte’s term as Davao City mayor, which Acosta said she could not recall.
What is at issue
The confidential funds at the centre of the trial are public money for which liquidation documents must identify legitimate recipients. Acosta’s account — that she handed over the cash and accepted receipts she could not independently verify — goes to whether the required accounting controls were observed.
What our readers said
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Other recurring themes were sympathy, prayers or condolence (46), appreciation or thanks (22), politics, campaigning or elections (11), questions about timing or priorities (10).
Themes were identified by keyword analysis of comment text. The sample reflects the reaction of this publication’s readers rather than a scientific survey of public opinion, and individual commenters are not identified.
Reporting by Breaking News Negros Oriental. Background drawn from published reports by Rappler, GMA News, Philstar, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Manila Bulletin and the Philippine News Agency. The impeachment trial is ongoing and no verdict has been rendered.
