The defense witness in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte came under fire after prosecutors disclosed that she is a former partner at an accounting firm that audited controversial companies linked to Duterte.
Davao City accountant Vingelin Bajan, 50, was supposed to testify on Tuesday, Nov. 10, on the compensation that the prosecutors said the Vice President received in 2023 from the Davao City government in violation of the Constitution.
House private prosecutor Mae Divinagracia presented documents showing that Bajan, a certified public accountant (CPA), served as a partner at Ampil, Elis, Ciudadano, and Co CPAs, from 2003 to 2015, while she was still working at the Davao City government on a job order.
The accounting firm is the external auditor of companies linked to Duterte, including GenCorp Industries Inc., which the Vice President listed as having a business interest in her financial documents, according to Divinagracia. Bajan’s name did not appear in the company’s information sheet, however.
Compensation income
Bajan, whom Duterte appointed as city accountant in 2017, was the third witness for the defense as it refuted and countered for the second day the evidence of House prosecutors in the sole-article impeachment accusing Duterte of unexplained wealth.
She took the witness stand to respond to a Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) official who earlier told the Senate impeachment court that Duterte signed a BIR 2316 form showing “she received a compensation income from the City Government of Davao in 2023.”
The prosecution said this violated Article VII, Section 13, of the 1987 Constitution, barring the president, vice president, members of the Cabinet, and their deputies and assistants from holding any other office or employment, or engaging in business, during their tenure.
In her testimony, Bajan presented a payroll register and disbursement voucher showing that the Davao City government compensated Duterte, but added that this was for salary differentials when she was city mayor from 2020 to 2021.
The witness said this benefit was pursuant to the Salary Standardization Law of 2019, which allowed salary adjustments for all Davao City government employees.
She said the city government disbursed ₱64,194.72 to Duterte in 2023, representing salary differentials from January to December 2020 (₱31,718.64) and from January to December 2021 (₱32,476.08).
Defense lawyer Lindon Bacquel asked Bajan why the disbursement was released only in 2023. She explained that Duterte had completed filing all supporting documents.
“So this is not from any service or practice of profession that she did while she was Vice President?” Bacquel asked Bajan, who replied in the affirmative. Divinagracia objected and moved to strike Bacquel’s last question, but Escudero allowed it to remain on the record and also cautioned Bacquel.
Bajan said she transmitted all original documents to the Commission on Audit (COA), prompting Divinagracia to say that the accountant had no “stamp proof of receipt” of the originals.
Article of partnership
To test the witness’ “bias and interest,” Divinagracia presented an article of partnership that showed Bajan served as a partner of the accounting firm that audited companies linked to Duterte. The prosecutor said the witness was a partner at the firm from the time it was registered in 2003 until she left in 2015.
A surprised Bajan took a long time to reply to Divinagracia’s query on whether she was part of the company registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 2003, prompting Senate impeachment presiding judge Francis Escudero to press her on the same question. “You’re either part of it or not,” he said,
Bajan finally said: “All I can remember is that this was my first job here in this accounting firm, after graduation.” But Escudero said Bajan was a partner at the firm with a ₱1,000 capital.
At one point, Divinagracia asked the court to tell the witness to stop looking at the defense counsel, as the latter flipped pages of documents from the SEC’s filing of the auditing firm. Escudero instructed Bajan to avoid looking at defense lawyers and only focus on the documents.
She was then asked if the signature affixed on the document was hers. “I’m sorry, Your Honor, I cannot remember these documents,” the witness said.
Amendment
Bajan also remained quiet when Divinagracia asked whether she filed an amendment to the articles of partnership with the accounting firm in 2015 when she was removed. Escudero told Bajan that the court may be constrained to act to compel her to answer.
“I cannot remember, Your Honor, I’m sorry,” Bajan said. Divinagracia told the court that the witness refused to answer. Escudero then asked the witness whether she was familiar with the document, and she replied in the negative.
Senator-judges also expressed irritation over Bajan’s nonresponse, with Bam Aquino telling her she was “in dangerous territory” after she could not answer his “simple” question about whether she was compensated as a partner with the accounting firm.
“It’s as if you are hiding something,”Aquino told Bajan.
The witness then said she received “allowances” during her stint there. She later admitted to Aquino that she served as a “partner in name” only with the accounting firm.
Senator-judge Francis Pangilinan told Bajan that her former accounting firm served as auditor of GenCorp, and she said she “was not familiar” with it.
Pangilinan said Thelma Cuidadano, whom Bajan said was her boss at the accounting firm and her former college teacher, was appointed by then President Rodrigo Duterte as vice chair of the Professional Regulatory Commission in 2019.
China trip
On another topic, Bajan acknowledged that she, along with some City Hall officials, went to China by availing themselves of a tour package in November last year.
Earlier, defense witness, Davao City assessor Jaime Adalin, admitted going to China with Davao City officials, and they all paid for their accommodations.
At Tuesday’s trial, the defense team presented its second witness, John Kenneth Enumerables, assessor of the Island Garden of Samal, to refute the prosecution’s claim that Duterte did not declare a 751-square-meter property in her statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN).
The property is under the name of Duterte’s husband, Manases Carpio. Duterte had listed the property, which she said is located in Barangay Matanos, in her SALN.
But Enumerables said he could not say for certain whether the property was the one listed in Duterte’s SALN, even though he said he was basing it only on the assessed and market value prices.
But the witness also said there was “no Barangay Matanos.” He said the Carpio property site was listed in Barangay San Isidro.
Senator-judge Panfilo Lacson interjected, pointing out that Samal Island has 46 barangays and that “Barangay San Isidro is one of them, while Matanos is not a barangay.” He said Matanos is located in Pangubatan. CS
