Ombudsman to seek prosecution evidence on VP Sara's use of confidential funds

The Office of the Ombudsman will ask the House prosecution panel to submit its evidence on the confidential fund use of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) under Vice President Sara Duterte for investigation and possible filing of charges, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said Friday.

“We are collecting all the records now, and we're evaluating them so that we can actually evaluate them for proper filing if necessary,” Remulla said in a press conference.

“We will ask the prosecution to turn us to turn over to us their evidence for the other charges that have not been aired out yet. We are entitled to look at that,” he added.

Some of the revelations by the prosecution witnesses on the confidential fund use under the Vice President’s leadership include:

• names of recipients of confidential fund not having birth, marriage or death records
• names of recipients of confidential fund matching names of dead persons of very young children as young as three years old
• names of recipients of the confidential fund, including Mary Grace Piattos, Mico Harina, Timon Pusa, Andy Lim, among others
• absence of proof that the OVP’s confidential fund was used for successful information gathering or surveillance activities
• absence of documentary evidence for payments to the recipients
• Commission on Audit issuing a notice of disallowance for P448 million confidential fund disbursement of OVP
• confidential fund allocation being released to military officers for disbursement instead of the Special Disbursement Officer mandated to do such job, among others

Remulla said such revelations on confidential fund use before the impeachment trial of the Vice President are all deeply concerning.

“Pare-pareho lahat yan eh. Basta't meron talagang series of wrongdoings, they're all the same to me. They're all disturbing, but we just have to live with the fact that our job is to prosecute these things. That's why we have been evaluating properly and filing the necessary cases when ready,” he said.

Asked if the comprehensive testimonies before the impeachment trial would speed up the Ombudsman's resolution on these confidential fund cases, Remulla said, "very possible."

"Very possible. Of course, ang deadline talaga ng trabaho ng Ombudsman is almost yesterday. That's why we always act with urgency. We just have to make sure that it will stand in court," Remulla said.

Under the 2015 joint circular on confidential fund use, the confidential fund can only be spent on the following:

• purchase of information necessary for the formulation and implementation of programs, activities and projects relevant to national security and peace and order;
• rental of transport vehicles related to confidential activities;
• rentals and the incidental expenses related to the maintenance of safehouses;
• purchase or rental of supplies, materials and equipment for confidential operations that cannot be done through regular procedures without compromising the information gathering activity concerned;
• payment of rewards to informers supported with documents evidencing the success of the information gathering and/or surveillance activities on
• account of the information given by the informer to uncover/prevent illegal activities that pose a clear and present danger to agency personnel/property, or other facilities and resources under the agency's protection, done in coordination with the appropriate law enforcement agencies

House lead prosecutor Gerville Luistro of Batangas said Friday that the prosecution is willing to endorse the evidence it presented on the confidential fund disbursement to the Office of the Ombudsman.

“I think in one of my interviews, I was able to articulate that even before that interview of Ombudsman Remulla, na kung kakailanganin ng aming formal endorsement of all the records of Article 1 on confidential fund, Article 3 on bribery and even Article 4 on grave threat, we will be willing to endorse. But of course this will be subject also to the conformity of the prosecution team as well as the House leadership,” Luistro said in an online press conference.

"We will be meeting with all the members of the prosecution panel and come up with our final timeline as to when we will be turning over the records of these three articles we've withdrawn to the Ombudsman," she added.

She was referring to the three Articles of Impeachment withdrawn by the prosecution to zero in on Article 2 on amassing unexplained wealth due to non-declaration of assets in the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) and non-divestment of business interests amid a Constitutional provision.

The prosecution decided to withdraw the three Articles of Impeachment after presenting evidence on Articles 4, 1 and 2.

Luistro also agreed with Remulla that the Ombudsman is entitled to have a look at the prosecution’s evidence on dropped impeachment charges, including that of the confidential fund.

“Knowing the proceedings of the Ombudsman, concerning the confidential fund and bribery, if he would need a formal endorsement, I am willing to do that. We will be seeking the position, of course, of the members of the panel also,” she said.

Luistro said that they leave it up to the Ombudsman to decide which of their evidence deserves its consideration.—LDF, GMA News