FROM ZERO UNDER LENI TO PHP125M: Aide says VP Duterte personally sought confidential funds

By Francis Allan L. Angelo  

Vice President Sara Duterte personally determined the PHP 125 million in confidential funds her office requested in August 2022, an Office of the Vice President official told the impeachment court, testifying that the amount did not come from the budget division, administrative units, or any routine assessment.

OVP Assistant Secretary and Assistant Chief of Staff Lemuel Ortonio confirmed Duterte’s signature on the Aug. 22, 2022 letter to the Office of the President and the Department of Budget and Management seeking the funds.

“It was the Vice President, Your Honor. The amount came directly from Vice President Sara Duterte,” Ortonio said.

Ortonio testified that the entire PHP 125 million, covering the fourth quarter of 2022, was fully disbursed from Dec. 21 to 31, 2022, an 11-day period, based on the official liquidation report.

He confirmed that the OVP had no confidential fund allocation when he assumed office in July 2022, and that records showed the office of Duterte’s predecessor, former Vice President and now Naga Mayor Leni Robredo, likewise had none over her term, which ended June 30, 2022.

Ortonio testified as a hostile witness after presiding officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero granted the House prosecution’s request, ruling that his OVP position is co-terminus with the Vice President’s.

“It has been established that Ortonio serves at the pleasure of the Vice President, and has been working for her for quite some time and is serving up to now—and that if the Vice President is impeached and therefore removed from office, pati kayo matatanggal,” Escudero ruled.

The ruling allowed prosecutors to ask leading questions, making Ortonio the second OVP official granted hostile witness status after former special disbursing officer Gina Acosta.

Ortonio and Acosta are among the witnesses presented to support Article I of the Articles of Impeachment, which charges Duterte with high crimes, graft, and betrayal of public trust over the alleged systematic misuse, irregular disbursement, and improper liquidation of PHP 612.5 million in confidential funds across the OVP and the Department of Education.

Request came before the required spending plan

Ortonio confirmed that the OVP had no physical and financial plan, or PFP, when it made the Aug. 22, 2022 request.

Under the 2015 joint circular governing confidential and intelligence funds, allocations must be supported by a PFP approved by the agency head and detailing allocations for each program, activity, and project.

He testified that the DBM later asked the OVP to submit the required plan, which was prepared and approved on Sept. 16, nearly a month after the original request.

Ortonio said he could not explain how the plan was reviewed because it did not pass through his office before reaching Duterte for approval and signature.

The August 2022 request justified the funds by citing the need for the safe implementation of good governance programs and official engagements.

Ortonio confirmed that Col. Raymund Dante Lachica was designated OVP security officer only in September 2022, weeks after the request was made.

He also confirmed that the PFP identified only the OVP’s “good governance program” as the activity to be financed, without itemizing specific programs or activities.

Ortonio agreed that the good governance program was an umbrella covering several OVP flagship activities, including medical and burial assistance.

House prosecution counsel Mae Divinagracia established through questioning that those activities already had funding under a PHP 621 million item in the OVP’s regular 2022 budget.

Asked whether the arrangement complied with the joint circular, Ortonio declined to give a definitive answer, having earlier told the court that he was familiar with the circular only “to a certain extent.” 

Vouchers required Duterte’s approval

Ortonio testified that no confidential funds could be released without Duterte’s signature and imprimatur, as she first had to approve the disbursement vouchers before Villa Delrey and Ortonio could sign.

Asked by Escudero whether he would sign only after the Vice President had signed, Ortonio said yes.

“The Vice President has to certify that the Expenses/Cash advance is necessary, lawful, and incurred under her direct supervision,” he said.

Ortonio earlier confirmed that he accompanied Acosta to encash the checks for the PHP 125 million at the Land Bank Shaw Boulevard branch in 2022.

Asked whether Duterte knew of his presence during the encashments, he replied: “Miss Gina informed the Vice President ‘yung pag-encash niya. But as to if [she was informed] I’m accompanying her, I’m not sure.”

Acosta is the bonded special disbursing officer with sole authority to withdraw the cash advance for the confidential funds, while Ortonio, as then-assistant chief of staff, is not an accountable officer.

Joint circular 2015-01 does not specify who may be present during the physical encashment or withdrawal, but requires that cash advances for confidential funds be drawn exclusively by the designated special disbursing officer.

Quarter-long allocation spent in 11 days

Acosta had previously testified about the same 11-day spending period, confirming that PHP 16 million went to the “rental of other incidental expenses relative to the maintenance of safe houses” and another PHP 75 million to the “purchase of supplies, provision of medical, [and] food aid.”

Escudero questioned Ortonio on why the funds had to be spent before the end of 2022, noting that appropriations under the General Appropriations Act generally carry a longer validity period.

Ortonio replied that the request was specifically for 2022 and that the corresponding plan covered the final quarter of that year.

Divinagracia sought to establish that the money should have been spent across October to December, but the defense objected that the question assumed a conclusion Ortonio had not made, and Escudero sustained the objection.

The prosecution then established through Ortonio that the good governance and socioeconomic programs identified in the plans were umbrella programs containing individual activities scheduled throughout the year, including October, November, and December.

Ortonio repeatedly distanced himself from the preparation and implementation of the plan, saying he did not participate in drafting it and could not speak to details of its implementation.

On the Commission on Audit’s audit observation memoranda, Ortonio confirmed that he was familiar with them because he received them on behalf of Duterte, and that the Vice President personally instructed him to prepare draft responses.

He said he did not study the liquidation reports attached to the memoranda, consulting instead with Acosta and Lachica on what information to include.

Ortonio said he physically saw the liquidation reports, certifications, and accomplishment reports but did not review or examine them in detail.

Prosecution offer draws defense objections

Before his direct examination, the prosecution offered 11 points it intended to establish through Ortonio, including its claim that the OVP requested PHP 250 million in confidential funds before a supporting plan existed.

The prosecution also said it intended to show that the OVP’s 2023 plan merely repeated language used in 2022, and that supporting receipts were submitted 10 months late, with more than 100 allegedly dated a year after the payments they purportedly documented.

The defense objected to all 11 points as conclusions of fact and “soundbites,” but Escudero overruled the objections, saying the prosecution was merely stating what it intended to prove.

Defense counsel Kristine Ferrer later manifested that Ortonio had been answering questions based on documents he had no part in preparing, and offered to stipulate to the figures and the number of days to hasten proceedings.

Escudero recalled that the prosecution offered Ortonio’s testimony to argue that the OVP’s confidential fund liquidation was a “sham,” among others, and put it to Ferrer that the defense would not stipulate to that, which Ferrer confirmed.

Escudero told Divinagracia to move on, saying some senator-judges were discussing her line of questioning during the break and that most if not all of them already understood the point that the plan came after the request.

He added that the court had taken notice of the 11-day disbursement period, including from an earlier witness.

Escudero noted that the disbursement voucher was the one document Ortonio actually signed, and observed that the documents should speak for themselves rather than be read into the record through a witness who did not prepare them.

Divinagracia also attempted to establish that matters involving the confidential funds were reported to or instructed by Duterte, but the defense objected that the question was vague and Escudero directed the prosecution to ask specific questions.

House invitations ignored in 2024

Ortonio confirmed that he ignored several invitations from the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability in October 2024 during its investigation into Duterte’s use of confidential funds, and that he did not seek judicial relief against them.

Shown a video of the committee’s Nov. 25, 2024 hearing, he confirmed that he supervises the OVP’s finance and strategy offices, placing programs under his supervision during their planning and funding stages.

He agreed that OVP funds do not move without his knowledge and that his directives ultimately come from Duterte.

Ortonio has worked under Duterte since 2008, serving during her terms as Davao City vice mayor and mayor, including stints as chief of the Davao City Investment and Promotion Center and head of the local government’s Human Resource Management Office.

He has served as OVP assistant secretary and assistant chief of staff since July 2022.

Stipulations

At the start of Tuesday’s proceedings, Escudero informed the court that prosecutors had requested stipulations on documents they intended to use during Ortonio’s examination.

Defense lead counsel Sheila Sison identified documents the defense was prepared to stipulate to, but said such arrangements should have been made in advance.

“I agree,” Escudero replied.

The court briefly suspended proceedings to allow both sides to identify exhibits they could mutually stipulate to, with Ferrer assigned to handle Ortonio’s examination for Duterte’s side.