Senator Gatchalian flags unverified details in OVP confidential fund audit replies

The Office of the Vice President (OVP) relied almost entirely on the word of its security chief when responding to state audit findings on its confidential fund spending, a senior official admitted Wednesday, acknowledging he took key details at face value without independent verification.

During Day 19 of Vice President Sara Duterte’s Senate impeachment trial, Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian pressed OVP Assistant Secretary Lemuel Ortonio on the foundation of six formal responses submitted to the Commission on Audit (COA). Ortonio testified that he drafted the replies to COA’s Audit Observation Memorandums (AOMs) using narrative accounts and documents supplied by Col. Raymund Dante Lachica—the security officer designated by Duterte to execute confidential operations—and former special disbursing officer Gina Acosta.

Ortonio confirmed meeting Lachica once or twice to gather details, adding that Duterte personally reviewed all six draft responses before they were finalized and sent to auditors.

When Gatchalian questioned audit entries showing confidential funds used for "medical and food assistance," Ortonio explained that Lachica claimed the money was handed out directly in cash to informants and agents, who pledged to use it for those specific supplies.

The testimony grew more uncertain when Gatchalian asked about the ₱500 million in confidential funds released in four ₱125-million tranches between late 2022 and late 2023. Ortonio admitted he could not verify if Lachica personally handled all four payouts, stating, "It is my assumption, sir, that he was the recipient of the funds across the four tranches."

Ortonio further disclosed that he never inspected the individual acknowledgment receipts or questioned Lachica on how informants were vetted, how operations were conducted, or how proof-of-payment documents were secured. Instead, Acosta handed him sealed boxes of Documentary Evidence of Payment (DEPs), which he forwarded unopened to COA.

"I did not ask anymore, sir," Ortonio said. "I just requested copies of the DEPs so I could submit them to COA."

Gatchalian challenged the wisdom of blindly trusting the source material: "What if the DEPs were fake? What if the narrative given to you was false?"

Ortonio replied that he saw no reason to double-check the details, citing Duterte's implicit trust in her designated officer. "He was designated by our head of agency... Whatever Col. Lachica told me, that is what I used to draft the reply."

-Paraluman News