A pattern of abuse and misuse

By Artchil B. Fernandez

The hearings on Article I of the impeachment complaint against Sara Duterte have revealed a pattern of abuse and misuse of the huge funds she received as vice president and education secretary. This is what the impeachment court’s deliberations over the past two weeks have shown.

In his testimony last week, Roderick Wamil, a former auditor at the Commission on Audit’s (COA) Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office, said rewards were given not only in cash but also in medicines and various goods, such as chairs, tables and printers. Wamil’s audit found that PHP 40 million was used to purchase medicines, which is not permitted under Joint Circular No. 2015-01. He also highlighted the fact that “none of those reward payments had any supporting document attached showing the success of the information-gathering or surveillance activity conducted on the basis of the information provided by the informer.”

Wamil’s testimony was corroborated this week by Commission on Audit auditor Xylene Mae del Campo. She testified that Sara Duterte’s confidential expenses included tree-planting activities, wheelchair distribution and Christmas parties. “Some of the activities here include thanksgiving events, coordination meetings, tree-planting activities, wheelchair distribution, gift-giving, medical missions, and other activities of the [OVP] satellite offices,” del Campo told the impeachment court.

Under questioning by private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan, del Campo admitted that the above-mentioned activities are not allowed under the definition of confidential funds.

Del Campo’s testimony also yielded interesting information on how the confidential funds were disbursed. Sara Duterte’s PHP 125 million confidential fund was withdrawn on Dec. 20, 2022, and spent from Dec. 21 to 31, 2022. Yet some of the activities used to justify the spending took place from Dec. 13 to 18, 2022, a week before the fund was withdrawn. How could the money have been spent in advance?

Another noteworthy detail from del Campo’s testimony concerned payments made on the same day but in different parts of the country. This happened not once but on several occasions, the COA audit report revealed. On Feb. 21, 2023, for example, payments were made in Malolos, Davao City and Negros Occidental. Payments were also made in Zamboanga City, Quezon City, Ifugao and Northern Samar, among other places, on March 15, 2023. Since Joint Circular No. 2015-01 states that confidential funds should be disbursed by a special disbursing officer (SDO), how could the SDO appear in these places on the same day? This prompted private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan to remark that the SDO must be Superman to be in all these places in one day.

What the testimonies of the COA auditors reveal is a blatant and shameless misuse and abuse of confidential funds. The first abuse and misuse is that the confidential funds were not used as intended. The budget item has a specific use — data and intelligence gathering for national security. The funds should not be used for office equipment, medicines, Christmas parties, tree planting or public consultations.

Worse, there are no official receipts proving the purchase of office equipment and medicines or the conduct of the activities mentioned. This is the second abuse and misuse of the confidential funds. The absence of receipts for the procurement of these materials means the public cannot be assured that the purchases of office equipment and medicines occurred.

What the testimonies of the COA auditors show is a pattern of abuse and misuse of the people’s money in the form of confidential funds. Sara Duterte used the funds indiscriminately for different purposes. She has no regard for the rules, policies and guidelines governing how public funds should be spent. The funds were spent according to Sara Duterte’s whims, grossly violating laws governing the expenditure of the people’s money.

Supporters of Sara Duterte claim that she used the funds for good reasons — distributing medicines to the poor or foiling national security threats, as Robinhood Padilla asserts. Good intentions are not the issue in the impeachment case. The issue is the abuse and misuse of public funds, regardless of the reason or justification. Public officials are prohibited from juggling public funds, no matter how noble the purpose may be.

Besides, if Sara Duterte wanted to distribute medicines, food or office equipment to the public or organize Christmas parties, why did she not request a budget for them? She could simply itemize them under her office’s budget to ensure transparency and easy accounting of the funds. Why place them under confidential funds when using them for purposes other than national security is strictly prohibited?

Using the Department of Education (DepEd) for intelligence and national security activities is wholly misplaced and wrong. Security agencies, such as the military and police, are already tasked with this responsibility. Why would DepEd compete with the security agencies? The education sector is already saddled with serious problems — a learning crisis, a lack of classrooms and teachers, and students’ mental health issues — and burdening DepEd with national security duties is absurd, despite Padilla’s protestations. Fighting terrorism is not the job of teachers and educators.

As vice president, Sara Duterte is mandated by her oath of office to use public funds with prudence and wisdom. She should take care of the people’s money by spending it according to its intended purposes. Sara Duterte is supposed to lead by example by obeying the rules, regulations and policies governing the use of public funds.

What the impeachment trial has revealed is a pattern of grave abuse and misuse of the people’s money by Sara Duterte. She spent public funds as she wished and in complete disregard of the rules and laws governing their use. Sara Duterte cannot be trusted with the Filipino people’s money. Public funds are not safe in the hands of Sara Duterte.