MANILA — Confidential operations were not included in the official functions of Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio or her role as education secretary, according to a Commission on Audit (COA) witness who testified during the impeachment trial.
Xylene del Campo of the COA Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (ICFAO) made the statement on the 15th day of the Senate proceedings after private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan asked whether the use of confidential funds formed part of the mandates of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) or the Department of Education (DepEd).
Kapunan referred to the OVP’s stated functions, which include executive, ceremonial and social service responsibilities, as well as programs intended to improve the lives of Filipinos.
Asked whether confidential operations fell within those functions, Del Campo answered in the negative.
“Based po doon sa nakalagay sa mandato nila, hindi po,” she said.
Kapunan also raised the same issue concerning the DepEd secretary, whose primary responsibility involves the country’s basic education system.
“The DepEd Secretary is in charge of basic, elementary, and secondary education. That’s the function. Kasama ba sa mandato ng isang secretary of the Department of Education ang confidential activities?” Kapunan asked.
“Kung based po sa mandato po nila, hindi po,” Del Campo replied.
The witness also testified that certain activities cited by the OVP in accounting for its 2022 confidential fund could not be charged to such funds under the rules governing their use.
These included tree-planting activities, Christmas parties, wheelchair distribution and other social service activities conducted from Dec. 13 to 18, 2022.
Del Campo pointed out that the OVP received its P125 million confidential fund allocation for 2022 only on Dec. 21, several days after those activities had taken place.
She said the Joint Circular 2015-01, which sets the rules for confidential and intelligence funds, does not list such activities among allowable expenses.
“Under the allowable expenses of [Section] 4.8 enumeration of the Joint Circular, hindi po ito kasama,” Del Campo said.
Under the joint circular, confidential funds may be used for information gathering linked to national security and peace and order, transportation for confidential activities, safehouse expenses, supplies and equipment needed for sensitive operations, rewards for informants backed by documentation, and efforts to prevent or uncover illegal activities posing a clear and present danger.
Del Campo also highlighted a provision prohibiting agencies from using confidential or intelligence cash advances to reimburse expenses incurred before the funds were actually granted.
“Hindi po siya chargeable sa confidential fund po,” she said.
The testimony forms part of the prosecution’s effort to establish its allegations concerning the handling and use of confidential funds during Duterte-Carpio’s tenure as vice president and education secretary./PN
