Amid allegations of misuse, only Vice President Sara Duterte and her former security aide, Col. Raymund Dante Lachica, knew how her controversial ₱500 million in confidential funds were used, her deputy chief of staff told the Senate impeachment court on Wednesday, Aug. 26.
Lemuel Ortonio made the admission at the conclusion of his testimony before the court trying Duterte for alleged misuse of her confidential funds and other impeachable offenses.
On the 19th day of the trial, the court finally addressed defense lead counsel Sheila Sison’s Aug. 12 protest over private prosecutor Amando Ligutan’s Facebook post about the heated exchange between fellow prosecutor Lorna Kapunan and defense lawyer Kristine Ferrer.
Presiding officer Francis Escudero announced three rulings to protect the decorum, impartiality, and integrity of the impeachment court, including penalizing the prosecution, respondent (Duterte), counsel of record, and senator-judges who would violate the sub judice rule or Rule 17 of the impeachment rules.
They are barred from issuing public statements on the merits of the trial. A two-strike system was established where first-time offenses carry a public reprimand/admonition, while second and subsequent violations carry fines of up to ₱30,000 per violation, plus possible restrictions on participation in the proceedings.
Escudero said past violations will not be punished but will now be strictly enforced.
Sub judice rule
He asked Duterte’s lawyers to remind the Vice President to observe the sub judice ruling after she released a press statement on the trial, ironically, while he was explaining the impeachment court rulings.
Appearing again before the court, Ortonio gave his standard reply of not having personal knowledge of the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) spending of the confidential funds from December 2022 to September 2023 before the Commission on Audit (COA), although he was the one who justified it.
He said he had no personal knowledge of the implementation of confidential activities and operations, which he said were carried out by Lachica, whom Duterte had designated as security officer.
In her redirect examination of Ortonio, a hostile witness, House private prosecutor Mae Divinagracia asked him if it was correct to say that among the Vice President, her chief of staff Zuleika Lopez, and him, only Duterte knew about the confidential fund spendings and liquidation.
Defense lawyer Kristine Ferrer objected to the question, saying it was “misleading” and “vague” given that Lopez had not testified about the funds.
House hearings
Escudero overruled it, however. He explained that the impeachment court took “judicial notice” of the House hearings in November 2024 when Lopez testified that she did not know about the confidential fund spendings.
But as Divinagracia repeated her question to Ortonio, Ferrer again objected to her line of questioning as “speculative” and later said the OVP deputy chief of staff was “incompetent” to answer it.
Escudero eventually interjected and asked Ortonio whether it was correct to say, based on his earlier testimony, that he had no personal knowledge of the way the funds were disbursed, spent, and liquidated.
The witness replied in the affirmative, and even when Escudero pointed out that OVP’s former special disbursing officer Gina Acosta, the prosecution’s first hostile witness, testified that she also did not know about these matters.
“Based on what you know, does the Vice President know how these funds were used?” the presiding officer asked Ortonio, who replied, “As the head of agency, I would understand that she knows the implementation.”
Escudero pointed out that Lachica knew about how these funds were used, and Ortonio agreed.
“So inside the OVP office, VP Sara, as head of the agency, knows [of the confidential fund use]; you, as deputy chief of staff, and the chief of staff do not know about it; and Colonel Lachica, who, from the questioning of [Senate President Pro Tempore Vicente] Sotto, is not part of the OVP office,” Escudero said. Ortonio agreed.
But several senator-judges were unhappy with Ortonio’s testimony, such as his failure to ask probing questions of Lachica about how he disbursed the funds, particularly the cash reward to informants and agents for the supposed purchase of food, medicine, and other supplies.
Ortonio said he relied on the statements and documents that Acosta and Lachica provided him in drafting the OVP’s reply to the audit observation memorandum (AOM).
Payment to informants
Senator-judge Raffy Tulfo asked him bluntly whether the informants were all sickly, given that the government agency was paid in large amounts such as ₱170,000 or ₱200,000 for each of them.
Ortonio replied that he had no personal knowledge, prompting Tulfo to confront him and tell him that he should have wondered what medicines the informants purchased.
“I know you’re very intelligent, very smart. Did you try to ask, at least wonder maybe, if they have arthritis, or were undergoing chemotherapy?” Tulfo said.
Ortonio said he did not ask Lachica because he “trusted what the security officer told me.”
An exasperated Tulfo said Ortonio’s explanations were “unbelievable” and “defy logic,” and stated that the witness’ intelligence was put to waste. He said Ortonio was “feigning ignorance,” a term that Escudero suggested be placed on the record in place of Tulfo’s outburst that the witness was “nagtatanga-tangahan.”
Ortonio said he was offended by Tulfo’s statement, insisting that he did his duty and work as “tasked of me.”
Tulfo continued: “How about the people? They are being offended by what seemed to be spending the people’s money…If you’re taking offense, much more offended are the countless Filipinos.”
The deputy chief of staff said the final decision on COA audit findings on the OVP confidential funds was still pending.
Tulfo said Ortonio should resign, and that if he were in his shoes, he would do so. “Why would I sign a document where Pagong and Piattos are signatories?” he said, referring to the odd-sounding names listed as OVP informants and recipients to the confidential funds.
Security officer’s role
On Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian’s questioning, Ortonio said he met with Lachica once or twice to discuss how the security officer implemented the confidential activities.
“Did [Lachica] tell you if he was the one who gave cash to the informants?” Gatchalian asked. Ortonio replied: “I can’t recall if he mentioned specifically that he distributed personally or implemented the release on the ground…Although I can recall, based on my recollection, that he said that he has people who go directly to the ground.”
On whether Ortonio asked Lachica about the questionable surnames in some of the acknowledgment receipts from the informants, he said anew that he did not see these documents because the AOM had asked them to submit documentary evidence of payment.
“It was already in a sealed box, and we submitted it together with our reply to COA,” Ortonio said.
Gatchalian also asked why he and Acosta placed so much trust in Lachica, and why he did not ask the security officer probing questions when he was tasked with justifying the spending to COA.
Ortonio said Lachica was “the best person to provide information” on the funds and that Duterte “gave him trust and confidence to implement the activities.”
‘Copy-paste’ programs
Senator-judge Panfilo Lacson confronted Ortonio with “copy-paste” programs in the OVP’s regular budget and in its confidential funds as he presented their 2022 and 2023 physical and financial plans.
“I think it’s stupid to copy-paste the program descriptions and physical targets of the regular budget and the CIF (confidential and intelligence funds). You could have at least differentiated them a little,” Lacson said.
He also sought to subpoena documents on the OVP confidential funds, saying that many senator-judges were wondering if the names or aliases of the informants in the acknowledgment receipts were real people. “Just so we can end our guessing and make an informed decision,” he said.
Escudero said the court can avail itself of that power at the appropriate time. CS
Read more: Informants, agents paid in cash from Duterte secret funds, says witness
