Metro Manila, Philippines – Vice President Sara Duterte spent some of her office’s confidential funds on Christmas parties, tree-planting activities, and other events, as revealed in documents she submitted to the Commission on Audit (COA) Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office to justify the expenses.
State auditor Xylene Del Campo told the Impeachment Court on Tuesday, Aug. 11, that these activities were prohibited in the confidential fund guidelines, prompting her to draft a notice of disallowance and ordering the refund.
Based on documents presented by the prosecution panel, some activities took place in December 2022, such as:
+Christmas activities
+tree-planting activities
+distribution of wheelchairs
+appreciation events with the Department of Education
+consultation meetings and catering
+’pasalamat’ meetings
The documents also showed that the Office of the Vice President (OVP) also charged ₱3.5 million for “tables, chairs, desktop computers and printers” to the confidential fund budget without specifying the purpose for the purchase.
Del Campo said this was against Joint Circular 2015-01, which governs the use of confidential funds.
The COA issued a notice of disallowance against the OVP for ₱73.2 million in 2022. The auditor said Duterte was the accountable officer as she is head of the agency and approved the transactions.
