OVP Aide Says VP Sara Duterte Personally Requested P125 Million Confidential Funds
SARA DUTERTE – Vice President Sara Duterte herself determined and requested the P125 million confidential fund allocation, according to testimony from an Office of the Vice President official.
Vice President Sara Duterte personally requested P125 million in confidential funds in 2022, according to Lemuel Ortonio, the current assistant chief-of-staff of the Office of the Vice President.
Ortonio made the confirmation during the 18th day of proceedings before the impeachment court. Duterte assumed the vice presidency in 2022 after succeeding former Vice President and now Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo, whose office had no confidential fund allocation throughout her entire six-year term.
The OVP official, whom the prosecution considered a hostile witness, confirmed Duterte’s signature on a 2022 letter addressed to the Office of the President and the Department of Budget and Management or DBM. Among the funds requested in the letter was P125 million intended for confidential expenses.
Ortonio also admitted that Vice President Duterte herself determined the amount. He said the figure did not come from the usual administrative assessment or from a recommendation made by the OVP’s budget division or other administrative units.
“It was the Vice President, Your Honor. The amount came directly from Vice President Sara Duterte,” said Ortonio.
During questioning by prosecution counsel Atty. Mae Divinagracia, Ortonio likewise confirmed that the entire P125 million was released and spent within just 11 days, from December 21 to 31, 2022, based on the official liquidation report.
He also told the court that, to his knowledge, the Office of the Vice President had no confidential funds during Robredo’s term, which ended on June 30, 2022.
Presiding Officer Chiz Escudero later declared Ortonio a hostile witness after he was asked whether he could lose his position at the OVP if Duterte were impeached and eventually removed from office. Following the ruling, the prosecution was allowed to question him using leading questions.
Ortonio became the second OVP official declared a hostile witness in the impeachment trial, following former Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta.
He has also had a long professional connection with Duterte. When Duterte was still mayor of Davao City, Ortonio served as chief of the Davao City Investment and Promotion Center and headed the local government’s Human Resource Management Office.
Ortonio and Acosta were presented by the prosecution to support allegations under Article I of the Articles of Impeachment. Duterte is accused of high crimes, graft and betrayal of public trust in connection with the alleged systematic misuse, irregular release and questionable liquidation of a total of P612.5 million in confidential funds of the OVP and the Department of Education.
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