OVP not excused from producing receipts for use of confidential funds, auditor says

A Commission on Audit (COA) auditor told the Senate impeachment court Monday that confidentiality over an operation does not excuse the Office of the Vice President (OVP) from identifying ordinary suppliers or producing appropriate receipts for purchases charged against confidential funds.

In his testimony, former Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (ICFAO) state auditor Roderick Wamil said the OVP’s revised accomplishment report and subsequent responses still left unresolved deficiencies involving documentary evidence for payments, rewards and purchases.

“Ang confidential po mismo ay ’yung paggagamitan, hindi ’yung pagbibilhan. Magkaibang bagay po kasi iyon (The use itself is confidential but the suppliers are not. These are different things),” Wamil said.

After receiving the OVP’s revised accomplishment report, he said the audit team considered the additional submission and issued a supplemental Audit Observation Memorandum (AOM).

He explained that the second AOM repeated the initial observation that the OVP had not submitted documents showing the actual payments covered by its report.

“Wala pa rin silang isinumiteng documentary evidence of payments. So, ni-reiterate po namin dito sa aming second AOM ’yung (They did not still submit documentary evidence of payments. So, we reiterated in our second AOM the) non-submission of documentary evidence of payments,” he said.

Among the questioned items in the revised report were PHP40 million for medical and food aid and PHP10 million for incentives or traveling expenses allegedly related to OVP confidential operations.

Wamil said those items did not appear among the allowable confidential-fund expenditures enumerated in Item 4.8 of Joint Circular No. 2015-01.

“May (There are) items for the provision of medical and food aid for PHP40 million at (and) payment of incentives or traveling expenses relative to the confidential operations of the OVP for PHP10 million, na hindi (that are not) allowable expenses based on Item 4.8 of Joint Circular 2015-01,” he said.

“Wala po silang isinumiteng (They have not submitted any) document in support of the payment of rewards as of this time — as of the date ng AOM,” he added.

Wamil also cited the absence of a special budget request — proof that the revised accomplishment report had been submitted to the Office of the President, Senate President and House Speaker — and the approval of a disbursement voucher by Assistant Secretary Lemuel Ortonio instead of the agency head.

He testified that the OVP subsequently submitted two responses containing documentary evidence of payments in the form of acknowledgment receipts, but found further deficiencies.

According to Wamil, the receipts reflected rewards paid in cash, medicines and various goods but lacked records establishing the successful intelligence activity resulting from an informer’s information.

“Lahat po ng kanilang payment of rewards ay walang naka-attach na any document (All their payment of rewards has no attached document) supporting the success of the information-gathering activity or surveillance activity on account of the information given by the informer,” he said.

The submissions also covered medicines, various goods, supplies, tables, chairs, desks, printers and computers.

Wamil said the OVP supported the purchases only with acknowledgment receipts and did not indicate whether some equipment was intended for confidential operations.

“Since ang involved po ay purchases (Since purchases are involved), then those purchases should have been supported with sales invoices and official receipts instead of just acknowledgment receipts,” he testified.

The defense moved to strike Wamil’s answers concerning whether the identities of drugstores, groceries and hardware stores were confidential, questioning his competence to give that opinion.

Presiding Officer Francis Escudero denied the motion, ruling that Wamil was competent to explain how he evaluated the OVP submissions under Joint Circular No. 2015-01.

-Philippine News Agency