Kahit bayaran P73M COA disallowance, VP Sara impeachment tuloy – Ridon

Uusad umano ang impeachment proceedings sa Kamara de Representantes kahit na bayaran ni Vice President Sara Duterte at iba pang accountable officer ang P73.28 milyong confidential funds na inisyuhan ng disallowance ng Commission on Audit (COA).
Ito ang sinabi ni Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon sa panayam ng award-winning broadcast journalist na si Pinky Webb sa programang “On Point” ng Bilyonaryo News Channel.
“At the level naman po ng committee, it’s just the determination of probable cause. Kung masapatan na kami for example na even without further testimonies from other personalities yung issue relating to the misuse of confidential is already sufficient enough, we don’t need to get further testimonies from others,” sabi ni Ridon.
“More importantly it is not just naman po the testimony of Mr. Madriaga which will competently explain yung misuse po ng confidential funds kasi nga… the COA proper already issued a decision with finality on the 2022 confidential fund of the OVP. So talagang pinapasoli na po ito kay Vice President Sara Duterte, sa kanila pong chief accountant at sa kanila pong special disbursement officer,” dagdag pa nito.
Ayon kay Ridon, ang hindi tamang paggamit ng confidential funds “constitutes betrayal of public trust.”
“Kasi yung confidential funds ho talagang very strict po yung paggamit nyan eh. Dapat hindi po yan ginagamit for a non-confidential nature…Ito po ay dapat ginagamit para sa pagtitiyak po ng national security, internal security ng ating bansa so hindi ho natin yan dapat mini-misuse, hindi ho natin yan ginagamit sa hindi dapat paggamitan,” sabi ng solon.
Iginiit ni Ridon na hiwalay ang COA sa impeachment.
“Those are independent and separate remedies. You’re still on the hook to return it while you are still being tried for an impeachable offense,” sabi ng mambabatas.
“So hindi ho kailangang pagbanggain yung usapin ng betrayal of public trust and yung order ng COA na magsoli po ng pera,” dagdag pa ni Ridon.
Sa impeachment hearing noong Martes, sinabi ng state auditor na si Atty. Gloria Camora, team leader ng COA Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office, na ibinasura ng COA Proper ang apela ng Office of the Vice President (OVP) at pinagtibay ang ipinalabas na disallowance sa P73.28 milyong confidential fund.
Ang P73.28 milyon ay bahagi ng P125 milyong confidential fund na ibinigay sa OVP noong Disyembre 2022.
“Wherefore, the Petition for Review, treated as appeal, of Ms. Sara Z. Duterte, Vice President; Ms. Gina Acosta, Special Disbursing Officer, and Ms. Julieta L. Villadelrey, Chief Accountant, Office of the Vice President, is hereby denied. Accordingly, Notice of Disallowance No. 2024-002-100 dated August 8, 2024, on the confidential expenses of the OVP for the period from December 21 to 31, 2022, in the amount of P73,287,000.00, is affirmed,” sabi ni Camora na binasa ang desisyon.
Sina Duterte, Acosta, at Villadelrey ang accountable officer ng naturang pondo.(Henry Padilla)