Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Article (news)

David Dizon

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/1785890682686Screen Shot 2026-08-05 at 8.44.29 AM.png" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The Senate impeachment court resumed hearing witness testimony on Vice President Sara Duterte&#x27;s confidential fund expenditures on Tuesday, August 4, 2026.<em> Voltaire Domingo/Senate Social Media Unit</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — Senators will have a chance to ask questions about alleged confidential funds misuse on Day 13 of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. </p><p>Presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero said several senators have already signified their intent to question former state auditor Roderick Wamil on the Commission on Audit’s investigation into the liquidation of confidential and intelligence funds used by the Office of the Vice President and Department of Education since 2022.</p><p>Among those poised to ask questions are Senators Raffy Tulfo, Bam Aquino, Kiko Pangilinan, Erwin Tulfo, Sherwin Gatchalian, Joel Villanueva, Risa Hontiveros, Robinhood Padilla, Imee Marcos, and JV Ejercito.</p><div><br/></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/8Bqf5XteNwE?autoplay=1&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>Duterte is facing allegations of &quot;systematic misuse, misappropriation and irregular liquidation&quot; of confidential funds totaling P612.5 million, of which P500 million was for OVP and P112.5 million for the Department of Education, which she headed from 2022-2024. She and her lawyers have denied the accusations.</p><p>Wamil, who used to be assigned to the Commission on Audit&#x27;s Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office, earlier told the impeachment court his observations to the accomplishment reports of the OVP concerning its multimillion-peso confidential funds for the first three quarters of 2023.</p><p>In his testimony, Wamil said the millions of pesos in confidential fund expenditures under the OVP or DepEd were either unsupported by required documents or did not qualify as allowable expenses under government auditing rules.</p><p>He said P82 million spent by the OVP during the first two quarters of 2023 went to food and medical aid, which are not allowed expenditures under Joint Circular No. 2015-01.</p><p>Another P62 million on reward payments in 2023 violated provisions of the circular due to lack of a physical and financial plan specifying the proposed amount for each activity to be financed.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/8/4/witness-flags-violations-in-ovp-confidential-fund-use-1239">Witness flags &#x27;violations&#x27; in OVP confidential fund use</a></div><p>Jose Roy III, a former defense lawyer in the Corona impeachment trial, said another state auditor from the Commission on Audit&#x27;s Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office, who is set to testify in the impeachment trial, could shed light on the audit of Duterte’s confidential funds.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>FOCUS ON PSEUDONYMS</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Roy earlier noted Wamil clearly laid out the different stages of the auditing process, from an audit observation memorandum to a notice of disallowance, which forces a government agency to return a disbursement.</p><p>He also expressed surprise on the types of transactions being charged into the OVP and DepEd confidential funds, including rewards, medicine, office equipment, and rental of safe houses worth P2 million a day.</p><p>He noted that “confidential” does not mean every detail of the transaction, including sales invoices and receipts, are secret.</p><p>“Hindi naman ibig sabihin na lahat pwede mong isikreto, na pati ang pagkakataon o mga tumatanggap o nababayaran pwede mong isikreto. Hindi nga ba pinaliwanag niya. Kailangan maglabas ka ng resibo. Kailangan nakikilala yung tao. Ang pwede mong isikreto kung ano ang pinaggamitan ng pera,” he told DZMM.</p><p>“Halimbawa, pag sinabing reward, malinaw ang reward, ukol sa pagbili ng impormasyon na kinakailangan para sa seguridad o ano man. Kung ano ang impormasyon na yan, yan ang isikreto. Hindi mo na ilalagay yan sa audit documents.”</p><p>Roy said the impeachment trial could tackle the issue of the signatures in the OVP’s acknowledgment receipts after a National Bureau of Investigation forensic examiner told Congress this year that the handwriting and signatures in the receipts were done by as few as 7 individuals.</p><p>“Cash ang binayad. Parang evidence yata nagpapakita na isang tao lang ‘yung pumirma sa lahat,” he said.</p><p>He added that the issue of pseudonyms of informants could also be tackled in the impeachment trial after Wamil testified that a certain “Mary Grace Piattos” received P70,000 in reward money from the OVP confidential funds.</p><p>Other names identified as OVP confidential fund recipients include Andy Lim, Alejandro Pikit, Patty Ting, Nova Santos, Mico Harina, Sisfrunio Balsac, Renan Piatos, Gabriel Bisaya, Janice Marie Revilla, and Feonna Biong.</p><p>The Philippine Statistics Authority earlier said it has <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/4/14/psa-reiterates-it-has-no-records-of-mary-grace-piattos-kokoy-villamin-2046">no birth, death or marriage records</a> of a Mary Grace Piattos in its database. </p><p>“Pag lumabas yan, hindi na Andy Lim. Ang liwanag na,” Roy joked. </p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEOS</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/15MayONRX9g?&amp;t=12s&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><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/1EtnFfRl4Ww?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><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/hDwZYeAbcmY?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><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/D-kTNpKXUZw?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Senators will have a chance to ask questions about alleged confidential funds misuse on Day 13 of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.</p>

Senators will have a chance to ask questions about alleged confidential funds misuse on Day 13 of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

Impeach trial Day 13: Tulfo, Padilla, et al to take crack at confidential funds findings

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Impeach trial Day 13: Tulfo, Padilla, et al to take crack at confidential funds findings

David Dizon,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 05, 2026 08:56 AM PHT

Read More:

mary grace piattos

mary grace piatos

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sara duterte

jose roy iii

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