MANILA — The House prosecution panel will shift its presentation next week from tracing the movement of Vice President Sara Duterte’s confidential funds to examining how the expenditures were audited, lead House prosecutor and Batangas Rep. Gerville “Jinky Bitrics” Luistro said.

The Senate impeachment court granted the prosecution’s request to summon two Commission on Audit (COA) officials as its next witnesses beginning Aug. 3—former Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (ICFAO) state auditor Roderick Wamil and incumbent ICFAO supervising auditor Celine May Del Campo.

Also subpoenaed to testify after the two auditors is House Legislative Information Resources Management Department Director Marivic Pareja.

Luistro said the prosecution has completed the phase of its case tracing the release and encashment of the PHP612.5 million in confidential funds released through the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd).

She said the next stage of the proceedings will focus on the government’s audit of how the funds were spent.

“Ang maririnig natin next hearing will be the audit process, including the findings, and perhaps the notices of disallowance, and even the decision of COA which sustained the notice of disallowance,” Luistro said during a press briefing.

According to Luistro, the COA auditors are expected to explain how the commission examined the liquidation of the confidential funds, the deficiencies identified during the audit, and the basis for the issuance of notices of disallowance.

The prosecution previously presented retired Land Bank branch managers Violeta Constantino and Nenita Camposano, who testified on the encashment of Treasury checks totaling PHP612.5 million for the OVP and DepEd.

Luistro said the sequence of witnesses was intentional.

“We wanted to show first how the money moved before presenting the audit that examined how it was spent,” she said.

She added that the prosecution may still modify its lineup of witnesses if developments during the trial require additional evidence.

“As a matter of fact, part of the pre-trial order is a reservation to present even additional evidence or witness should the exigency of the trial demand,” Luistro said.

Article I of the impeachment complaint accuses Duterte of allegedly misusing PHP612.5 million in confidential funds received by the OVP and DepEd during her tenure as Vice President and Education secretary.

According to the prosecution, the confidential funds were supported by questionable liquidation documents, including acknowledgment receipts bearing names such as “Mary Grace Piattos,” “Milky Secuya,” and “Kokoy Villamin,” along with hundreds of other purported recipients who could not be matched with records from the Philippine Statistics Authority during the House investigation.

Prosecutors also allege that the funds were spent within unusually short periods, including PHP125 million in just 11 days, and that COA subsequently issued notices of disallowance directing the return of the questioned expenditures.