Marilyn Cahatol

Vice President Sara Duterte announces her intention to run for the presidency in the 2028 national elections during a press conference at the Office of the Vice President (OVP) headquarters in Mandaluyong City on Wednesday, February 18, 2026. Duterte outlines her priorities, including governance reforms, public service continuity, and national development. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

VP SARA DUTERTE

Vivienne Gulla

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/177667528027220260218-vp-sara-duterte-presidency-MT2 (2).jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Vice President Sara Duterte announces her intention to run for the presidency in the 2028 national elections during a press conference at the Office of the Vice President (OVP) headquarters in Mandaluyong City on Wednesday, February 18, 2026. <em>Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News </em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA (<strong>UPDATED</strong>) — Vice President Sara Duterte&#x27;s supposed directive to release P375 million of the Office of the Vice President&#x27;s (OVP) 2023 confidential funds to then-Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group Head was &quot;contrary&quot; to a joint circular governing the use of confidential and intelligence funds, according to the Commission on Audit. </p><p>The COA - Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (ICFAO) cited this in the notice of disallowance on the P375 million OVP confidential expenses for the first three quarters of 2023, which was issued on March 31, 2026. </p><p>House Committee on Justice Member Terry Ridon shared a copy of the notice to the media.</p><p>&quot;Based on the results of our evaluation, with due consideration to subsequent information given under oath during the hearings of the Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability of the House of Representatives, the amount of P375,000,000.00 is hereby disallowed in audit,&quot; the notice signed by COA State Auditor V Gloria Camora.</p><p>&quot;The directive given by the Hon. Vice President Sara Z. Duterte to Ms. Gina F. Acosta to release/give the cash advances for confidential expenses to Col. Raymund Dante P Lachica, the Head of the Vice President Security and Protection Group (VPSPG), is contrary to Item 6.1.1 of COA-DBM-DILG-GCG-DND Joint Circular No. 2015-01 (Joint Circular) dated January 8, 2015,&quot; it added.</p><p>In a statement, the Office of the Vice President said they have not yet officially received a copy of the Decision of the Commission on Audit (COA) Commission Proper concerning the 2022 Confidential Funds.</p><p>They also confirmed receipt of the Notice of Disallowance pertaining to the 2023 Confidential Funds. &quot;(We) will pursue the appropriate remedies in accordance with COA rules,&quot; the OVP said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>NOT ADEQUATELY SUPPORTED BY DOCUMENTS</strong></div><p>COA said that of the P375 million, the P62 million used for the &quot;payments of rewards&quot; to informants was not adequately supported by documents &quot;evidencing the success of the information gathering and/or surveillance activities on account of the information given.&quot;</p><p>The Certifications issued by the VPSPG in September 2023 and April 2024 had stated that the confidential activities such as surveillance and information gathering &quot;prevented untoward incidents from transpiring during the engagements of the Vice President in the implementation of the programs of the OVP,&quot; including the establishment of three new satellite offices in Isabela, Cagayan Valley, Bicol, and BARMM, and the implementation of the OVP Libreng Sakay Program and programs from January 1 to September 30, 2023.</p><p>But it asserted that &quot;these certifications and PIO reports did not specify the particular accomplishments demonstrating the success of the information gathering and/or surveillance activities directly related to the confidential operations undertaken as required&quot; by the joint circular that necessitated the payments of rewards.</p><p>A huge chunk of the disallowed P375 million confidential funds was used for the purchase of supplies and provisions of medical/food aid totaling P199 million. The COA said these were &quot;supported only by acknowledgment receipts&quot;.</p><p>&quot;To ascertain the validity of such purchases of supplies and provision of medical and food aid, we deem it necessary that they be substantiated with appropriate documents such as official receipts or sales invoices,&quot; the notice stated.</p><p>The COA also flagged the confidential fund disbursements dated May 18, 2023 and July 6, 2023 each amounting to P150,000 for the &quot;purchase of information&quot;, saying they were made prior to the grant of cash advance on July 13, 2023.</p><p>&quot;These payments indicated that the cash advance was utilized for reimbursement purposes, which is contrary to Item 6.1.2 of the Joint Circular,&quot; the notice stated.</p><p>&quot;The said provision provides that in no case shall a cash advance for CF be utilized as reimbursement of expenses prior to the granting of cash advance,&quot; it stressed.</p><p>The four individuals named as &quot;responsible/liable&quot; for the disallowed amount are Duterte, Acosta, Lachica, and OVP Chief Accountant Julieta Villadelrey. They have six months from receipt of the notice of disallowance to file an appeal, before it becomes final and executory.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/4/14/-wait-madriaga-claims-he-disposed-of-ovp-s-p125-m-confidential-funds-in-less-than-24-hours-1424">Madriaga claims he &#x27;disposed&#x27; of OVP&#x27;s P125-M confidential funds &#x27;in less than 24 hours&#x27;</a></div><p>Ridon said if the COA notice of disallowance on the P375 million OVP confidential expenses for 2023 becomes final, the amount will be added to the <a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/4/14/coa-denies-sara-duterte-petition-to-review-notice-of-disallowance-over-p73-m-confidential-funds-1905">P73 million OVP confidential expenses</a> in December 2022, which was previously disallowed by the COA en banc.</p><p>&quot;Pagka nag-ripen into finality ito pong P375 million new notice of disallowance… aabot po ng P448 million ang ire-require po ng COA na isauli po niya as a personal liability together with other OVP officials,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;If they weren&#x27;t able to justify it the first time, I&#x27;m quite certain, they won&#x27;t be able to justify it the second time. Hindi ba? Kasi pareho lang naman &#x27;yung batayan eh,&quot; Ridon added.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>IMPEACHMENT</strong></div><p>While the COA notice of disallowance on the P375 million OVP confidential expenses in 2023 is still appealable and has yet to be final, Ridon and House Committee on Justice Chairperson Gerville Luistro believe it supports the confidential fund misuse allegation in the impeachment complaints against Duterte.</p><p>&quot;Ang position ng COA still is the rules under the Joint Circular No. 2015-01 was violated as well. And I believe that these are significant, at least for the purpose of determination of probable cause,&quot; Luistro said.</p><p>&quot;Naglabas daw po ang OVP ng Confidential Funds sa mga unauthorized po na mga tao… Pangalawa, &#x27;yun pong mga supplies daw po, ginamit ang confidential funds sa pagbili ng mga kung ano-anong mga gamit para sa opisina. Bagamat ito po ay wala pang final decision mula po sa Commission on Audit proper at pwede po mag-apela ang ating Pangalawang Pangulo, tingin po natin it establishes a pattern of a misuse of confidential funds that will rise to a level of a betrayal of public trust,&quot; Ridon also said.  </p><div><a class="fr-strong fr-green" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/4/18/ridon-sara-duterte-has-to-face-impeachment-coa-disallowance-1709">Ridon: Sara Duterte has to face impeachment, COA disallowance</a></div><p>&quot;So ito pong bagong notice of disallowance po na ito ay magagamit bilang pagpapalakas sa kaso po at ating impeachment case laban kaya Vice President Sara Duterte on Betrayal of Public Trust over Confidential Funds misuse,&quot; he added. </p><p>He believes Duterte cannot credibly claim they were denied due process as the audit process afforded the OVP opportunities to respond.</p><p>Ridon and Luistro expressed appreciation for the commitment of the Senate leadership not to delay the proceedings if the impeachment complaint against Duterte reaches the upper chamber. But Ridon noted at this point, it is still premature to discuss the trial since the House panel and the lower chamber will still have to vote on whether or not to impeach the Vice President.</p><p>&quot;Ang naririnig ko kay Senate President Tito Sotto ay forthwith talaga. He will be acting forthwith upon the transmittal of the impeachment complaint. So that&#x27;s at least what I perceive doon sa nagiging gesture ng leadership ng Senate, which for us is positive,&quot; Luistro also said.</p><p>For the resumption of the House panel impeachment hearing on Wednesday, subpoenas were issued to the Office of the Ombudsman, the Anti-Money Laundering Council, former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Bureau of Internal Revenue. The committee is expected to tackle allegations of unexplained wealth and material nondisclosure in her SALN against Duterte.</p><p>Duterte&#x27;s husband, Manases Carpio, previously filed a <a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/4/13/sara-duterte-s-husband-seeks-tro-vs-subpoena-on-tax-records-lawmaker-1443">petition </a>before a Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) against the House Committee on Justice&#x27;s issuance of a subpoena for the couple&#x27;s annual Income Tax Returns (ITR).</p><p>Luistro said that it is already &quot;moot and academic&quot;.</p><p>&quot;Since it has been submitted already during the last hearing that was April 14… the issue of issuance of TRO is already moot and academic,&quot; she explained. </p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/4/20/sotto-majority-meet-over-chances-of-vp-sara-impeachment-reaching-senate-1247">Sotto, majority meet over chances of VP Sara impeachment reaching Senate</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div style="text-align:center"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qC5GaeZbV7I?si=N-CqIx-pZTrJD4yo" title="YouTube video player" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>

<p>VP Sara Duterte's supposed directive to release P375 million of the Office of the Vice President's (OVP) 2023 confidential funds to then-Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group Head was "contrary" to a joint circular governing the use of confidential and intelligence funds, said COA. </p>

VP Sara Duterte's supposed directive to release P375 million of the Office of the Vice President's (OVP) 2023 confidential funds to then-Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group Head was "contrary" to a joint circular governing the use of confidential and intelligence funds, said COA.

VP Duterte's alleged release of confi funds to security head in 2023 'contrary' to guidelines — COA

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VP Duterte's alleged release of confi funds to security head in 2023 'contrary' to guidelines — COA

Vivienne Gulla,

ABS-CBN News

Published April 20, 2026 05:17 PM PHT

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Updated April 20, 2026 07:48 PM PHT

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