Chalssea Kate Echegoyen

Former Commission on Audit (COA) state auditor Roderick Wamil testifies as a prosecution witness before the Senate Impeachment Court at the Senate of the Philippines in Pasay City on Monday, August 3, 2026, during the presentation of evidence on Article 1 of the impeachment complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte, which alleges the misuse of confidential funds. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA — The Office of the Vice President failed to justify its use of P612.5 million in confidential funds despite being given a chance to address deficiencies flagged by state auditors, a House prosecutor said Tuesday following testimony by a Commission on Audit official before the impeachment court on Monday.</p><p>Impeachment adviser and House prosecution team spokesman Robert Ace Barbers said COA Supervising Auditor Roderick Wamil’s testimony showed the OVP had several opportunities to substantiate its liquidation of confidential funds before the commission eventually issued Notices of Disallowance.</p><p>Disallowance means the agency has to return the money.</p><p>Barbers said the OVP submitted acknowledgement receipts, which “alone [are] not enough to justify the disbursement of more than P600 million in public funds.”</p><p>Wamil, one of the prosecution’s witnesses, testified on Monday that documents the OVP submitted did not comply with government auditing requirements for confidential funds.</p><p>Barbers said additional submissions still failed to establish how the confidential funds were actually spent.</p><p>The questioned confidential funds consist of P500 million released to the OVP in 2022 and P112.5 million granted to the Department of Education while Vice President Sara Duterte concurrently served as education secretary.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/8/3/ex-state-auditor-finds-non-allowable-expenses-in-ovp-confidential-funds-report-1311">Ex-state auditor finds non-allowable expenses in OVP confidential funds report</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>CONFIDENTIALITY </strong></div><p>Barbers also rejected suggestions that the use of aliases automatically explained the questionable names that surfaced during Monday’s impeachment proceedings.</p><p>During the hearing, prosecutors presented acknowledgment receipts bearing names such as “Mary Grace Piattos,” “J. Camote,” “Miggy Mango,” and “Amoy Liu.” </p><p>Barbers acknowledged that aliases may be used in military and intelligence operations but said confidentiality applies only to the operation itself, not to the government’s obligation to account for public funds.</p><p>“If someone using an alias receives public money, there should be a report identifying who that person is and what information or service was provided in exchange,” he said.</p><p>The House prosecution previously cited findings from a congressional inquiry that 1,322 of the 1,992 names listed as recipients of the OVP’s confidential funds had no matching birth records with the Philippine Statistics Authority).</p><p>Another 405 listed recipients under DepEd’s confidential funds likewise allegedly had no PSA birth records.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2024/11/25/ovp-exec-explains-where-p125-m-confidential-funds-were-used-0110">OVP exec explains where P125-M confidential funds were used</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>COA RULES </strong></div><p>Barbers also pointed to testimony that some expenditures flagged during the audit were allegedly outside the allowable uses of confidential funds under the Joint Circular governing confidential and intelligence funds.</p><p>He said confidential funds are intended for intelligence gathering and peace-and-order activities and cannot be used for ordinary operating expenses.</p><p>“You cannot use confidential funds to buy tables, groceries and similar items because those are not included among the allowable expenditures,” he said.</p><p>He added that prosecutors also intend to present evidence regarding expenditures that COA allegedly described as excessive, including around P10 million in travel expenses and payments labeled as incentives for “information/medicines.”</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>DEPED MUST PROVE RESULTS</strong></div><p>Barbers said the activities cited by Duterte to justify confidential funds for DepEd, including preventing recruitment of students by communist insurgents, terrorism, human trafficking, illegal drugs, and online sexual abuse of children, could qualify as peace-and-order concerns.</p><p>“It is incumbent upon them to submit reports showing these were the activities implemented, how the funds were used, and what results were achieved,” Barbers said.</p><p>“As we speak, according to the COA auditor, those reports have not been submitted,” he added.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/8/3/prosecution-auditor-s-testimony-shows-irregularities-in-ovp-s-confidential-spending-1730">Prosecution: Auditor&#x27;s testimony shows irregularities in OVP&#x27;s confidential spending</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dnMyjBtVEiU?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>The Office of the Vice President (OVP) failed to adequately justify its use of P612.5 million in confidential funds despite being given the opportunity to address deficiencies identified by state auditors, a House prosecutor said Tuesday.</p>

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) failed to adequately justify its use of P612.5 million in confidential funds despite being given the opportunity to address deficiencies identified by state auditors, a House prosecutor said Tuesday.

Barbers: OVP had chance to justify confidential fund spending flagged in audits

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Barbers: OVP had chance to justify confidential fund spending flagged in audits

Chalssea Kate Echegoyen,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 04, 2026 01:05 PM PHT

Read More:

Confidential funds

Impeachment

Vice President

Sara Duterte

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