MANILA — The House prosecution panel on Tuesday said testimony from a longtime aide of Vice President Sara Duterte showed that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) sought confidential funds shortly after she assumed office, before a supporting plan for their use was prepared.

Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, spokesperson for the House prosecution team, said OVP Assistant Secretary and Assistant Chief of Staff Lemuel Ortonio established the timeline surrounding the request for P250 million in confidential funds and the eventual release of P125 million in late 2022.

Ortonio, the prosecution’s second hostile witness in Duterte’s impeachment trial, testified that the OVP had no confidential funds when Duterte assumed office in July 2022. He said OVP records showed that no such allocation had been made during the term of former Vice President Leni Robredo.

Less than two months after taking office, Duterte signed a letter dated Aug. 22, 2022, requesting P250 million in confidential funds from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

Ortonio confirmed Duterte’s signature on the request and testified that determining the amount to be requested was within the Vice President’s discretion.

He also testified that, unlike three other funding requests contained in the same letter, the request for confidential funds did not include a computation, projection, Physical and Financial Plan (PFP), or other supporting attachment.

The DBM later requested a supporting plan on Sept. 15, 2022. Ortonio said the PFP was prepared and approved the following day and transmitted to the DBM on Sept. 19.

Adiong said the testimony showed that the request for the P250 million came before the preparation of the plan.

The OVP eventually received P125 million in December 2022, or half of the amount originally requested. According to the prosecution, the entire amount was reported spent from Dec. 21 to Dec. 31, a period of 11 days.

Prosecution legal spokesperson and counsel Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr. said the OVP should have first identified the activities to be funded and determined their costs before deciding how much confidential funding to request.

The prosecution said Ortonio’s testimony raised questions about the basis for the original P250-million request and whether an operational plan existed when Duterte sought the funds.