Prosecution spox flags confi fund receipts issued across 300 areas in one day

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Acknowledgment receipts (ARs) covering around 300 confidential fund transactions of Vice President Sara Duterte show that the funds were distributed in a single day, House prosecution spokesperson and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said Sunday.

In a statement, Adiong said this raised logistical questions, on top of concerns over the identities of the fund recipients.

“Dito ho, nakita na hindi lang po yung mga ARs ang walang mga matches doon sa kanilang entries sa PSA (Philippine Statistics Authority)—questionable 'yung mga edad,” Adiong said.

(Here, we saw that it’s not just the AR entries that don’t match the PSA—the ages listed are questionable.)

“Questionable ‘yung mga panahong nakatanggap sila dahil may acknowledgment receipts na tumanggap ng dalawang beses sa isang araw at nagkaroon lang po ng disbursement sa ilang lugar, mahigit-kumulang 300 areas all over the country na distributed in one day,” he added.

(And the timing of when they received the funds is also questionable because there are acknowledgment receipts showing individuals receiving payments twice in a single day, while disbursements occurred across roughly 300 areas nationwide, all in one day.)

Adiong said these spatial and temporal inconsistencies added another layer to the prosecution’s questions over the ARs.

This echoes earlier questions raised by senator-judges about how confidential fund disbursements could have been made in distant locations on the same dates.

Adiong also said the mere existence of ARs and liquidation reports could not establish that the recorded transactions actually took place, stressing the need to prove that they represented actual transactions and legitimate expenses.

“Hindi po sapat ang acknowledgment receipts lamang o certification o liquidation reports dahil kailangan mapatunayan na ang mga ito ay tumutukoy sa totoong transaksyon at totoong paggastos,” Adiong said.

(Acknowledgment receipts, certifications or liquidation reports alone are not enough because it must be proven that these refer to actual transactions and genuine expenditures.)

Article 1 of the impeachment complaint accuses Duterte of committing impeachable offenses through the systematic misappropriation and irregular liquidation of confidential funds, involving P500 million released to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and P112.5 million to the Department of Education (DepEd).

During earlier impeachment trial proceedings, the PSA said several recipient names submitted by the OVP and DepEd had no matching birth, marriage or death records. Other single-name matches corresponded to deceased individuals or minors. — MCG, GMA News