MANILA – A former Commission on Audit (COA) state auditor testified before the Senate impeachment court on Monday that the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) physical and financial plan for its confidential funds in 2022 did not comply with the requirements of the government’s joint circular governing the use and reporting of confidential and intelligence funds.

Roderick Wamil, who previously served with the COA’s Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (ICFAO), made the statement while testifying on Article I of the Articles of Impeachment against Vice President Sara Duterte, which alleges the misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds.

Responding to questions from House private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan, Wamil said the OVP’s physical and financial plan approved in December 2022 failed to specify the confidential activities for which the funds would be used.

“It is not compliant with the joint circular because the first column lists programs, activities, and projects—yet the OVP did not indicate the specific confidential activities for which the confidential funds would be used, as required under Item 4.2 of the joint circular,” he said.

Wamil said the absence of specific confidential activities also resulted in inconsistencies in the document’s expected outcomes and physical targets.

“Based on this submitted physical and financial plan, it appears that they did not note the specific confidential activities on which their disbursements would be based,” he said.

“Since the OVP did not indicate their specific confidential activities here, the expected outcomes and physical targets were not matched with the specific confidential activities based on the information presented in this document,” he added.

The auditor also confirmed that the physical and financial plan, dated Dec. 13, 2022, bore Duterte’s signature approving its contents.

“‘Approved by’ means that the person who signed it approved the contents of the physical and financial plan based on that document,” he said.

Asked how he identified Duterte’s signature, Wamil said the OVP had submitted specimen signatures to the COA.

“Because among their submissions were their specimen signatures, and included there was the Vice President’s specimen signature.”

“And the signature on the submitted specimen matches the signature on this physical and financial plan,” he added.

Wamil also pointed to what he described as inconsistencies in an OVP certification related to the confidential funds.

He testified that the certification was dated January 2022 even though it referred to a cash advance for the fourth quarter of the year, while the document itself was notarized in January 2023.

“Based on this document, yes ma’am, there is a discrepancy in the dates,” he said.

Earlier in his testimony, Wamil told senator-judges that Duterte was the only vice president and the only education secretary whose confidential funds he audited during his assignment with the ICFAO from September 2014 to February 2024.

“Tanging si Vice President Sara Duterte lang po ‘yung aking na-audit na may confidential fund,” Wamil said.

“Tanging si Vice President Sara Duterte lang po yung nagkaroon ng appropriation for the confidential funds,” he added, noting that former vice presidents Jejomar Binay and Leni Robredo did not receive confidential fund appropriations during his assignment.

He likewise testified that Duterte was the only Department of Education secretary whose confidential funds underwent audit while he was assigned to the ICFAO.

“Dahil siya lang po ‘yung naging DepEd Secretary na nagkaroon ng confidential funds ang DepEd,” he said.

Wamil testified that he audited P500 million in confidential funds released to the OVP from the fourth quarter of 2022 through the third quarter of 2023, as well as P112.5 million released to the Department of Education during the first three quarters of 2023.

He also emphasized that confidential funds are subject to strict accounting and auditing requirements because they involve public money.

“We follow strict compliance since what is involved ay public funds, so dapat strict ’yung accounting and auditing rules to prevent ’yung misuse of funds,” Wamil said.

According to Wamil, the ICFAO conducts compliance post-audits to determine whether confidential fund disbursements are supported by documents required under applicable laws, rules and regulations.

He identified Joint Circular No. 2015-01, jointly issued by the COA, the Departments of Budget and Management, Interior and Local Government, National Defense, and the Governance Commission for Government-Owned or Controlled Corporations, as the primary standard used in auditing confidential and intelligence funds.

The prosecution presented Wamil to identify and authenticate audit records covering P500 million in confidential funds released to the OVP and P112.5 million released to the Department of Education during Duterte’s tenure.