MANILA, Philippines — The mystery surrounding how millions of pesos in confidential funds moved through the Office of the Vice President is coming under sharper scrutiny after a former disbursing officer testified that Vice President Sara Duterte personally instructed her to turn over ₱125 million in cash to the official then heading her security detail.
The testimony of former OVP Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta has become a critical part of the House prosecution’s effort to establish what it describes as a “chain of control” over confidential funds.
Acosta testified before the Senate impeachment court that after withdrawing ₱125 million from a LandBank branch on December 20, 2022, she handed the money to Col. Raymund Dante Lachica, then head of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group.
Asked who instructed her to release the money to Lachica, Acosta identified Vice President Sara Duterte.
She also testified that she would not have turned over the funds without Duterte’s authorization.
That detail is now at the heart of the prosecution’s case.
Prosecutors Say the Money Trail Is Becoming Clearer
House prosecution spokesperson Atty. Benjamin “Jay” Tolosa Jr. said Acosta’s testimony helps prosecutors establish what they describe as a chain of control over the confidential funds.
The prosecution’s argument is significant because Acosta was the designated special disbursing officer responsible for withdrawing the money, yet the cash was subsequently handed to Lachica.
Prosecutors are questioning whether that transfer complied with government rules governing confidential funds and the responsibilities of accountable officers.
The prosecution has stressed that Acosta’s testimony does not merely establish that the ₱125 million was withdrawn. It potentially connects the authorization of the transaction, the withdrawal of the cash and its subsequent turnover to another OVP official.
₱125 Million Withdrawn—Then Handed Over
Multiple news organizations reporting directly on the impeachment proceedings have independently reported Acosta’s testimony.
According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Acosta testified that Duterte instructed her to give the entire ₱125 million to Lachica after the money was withdrawn from LandBank’s Shaw Boulevard branch.
The Philippine Star similarly reported that Acosta told the impeachment court that Duterte ordered the release and that Lachica was chosen because, according to Acosta’s testimony, he knew how to implement programs and activities connected with confidential operations.
GMA News reported an even broader allegation from Acosta’s testimony: she said approximately ₱500 million in OVP confidential funds released during 2022 and 2023 were turned over to Lachica on Duterte’s instructions and because of his expertise in security matters.
That ₱500-million figure should not be confused with the specific ₱125-million transaction now receiving intense scrutiny. The latter relates to the December 2022 confidential-fund release.
Why Lachica’s Role Matters
Another issue raised during Acosta’s testimony could become particularly important.
Reporting by CoverStory.ph said Acosta acknowledged that Lachica’s name did not appear in documents submitted to the Commission on Audit to justify the December 2022 disbursement, including documents relating to planning, accomplishment and liquidation.
That raises a central question for the impeachment court:
If Lachica physically received and handled the confidential funds, what was his formal role in their disbursement and liquidation?
The prosecution argues that government rules placed responsibility for disbursement directly on the designated special disbursing officer.
Manila Standard reported Tolosa as saying that transferring the entire ₱125 million to Lachica allegedly violated rules governing special disbursing officers.
Whether those circumstances ultimately establish wrongdoing, however, remains for the impeachment court to determine.
The Larger ₱612.5-Million Controversy
The ₱125-million transaction is only one component of the broader confidential-fund controversy being examined in Duterte’s impeachment case.
Article I involves allegations concerning ₱612.5 million in confidential funds received by the Office of the Vice President and Department of Education during Duterte’s leadership.
The prosecution has been attempting to reconstruct how the funds were withdrawn, distributed and eventually liquidated.
State auditors have also played a major role in the proceedings.
Earlier reporting on the case showed that the Commission on Audit had directed the return of roughly ₱73.287 million connected with the OVP’s 2022 confidential-fund expenditures after portions of the spending were disallowed.
The controversy has also involved questions about acknowledgment receipts and the identities of people allegedly listed as recipients of confidential expenditures.
From Accounting Records to a Human Money Trail
For prosecutors, Acosta’s testimony potentially fills an important gap.
Bank and accounting records can establish when government money was released and withdrawn.
But testimony from the person who actually withdrew the cash may help establish what allegedly happened immediately afterward.
The emerging sequence presented by prosecutors is essentially:
Government confidential funds → withdrawal by the designated disbursing officer → alleged instruction from Duterte → turnover to Lachica → subsequent confidential-fund operations and liquidation.
That sequence is what Tolosa and the prosecution are characterizing as an emerging “chain of control.”
It remains an allegation being tested in an impeachment trial—not a final finding of liability.
The Questions That Remain
The biggest unresolved issue is what happened after the money reached Lachica.
Who ultimately received the cash?
What operations were financed?
Who authorized individual expenditures?
And can the liquidation documents presented to government auditors reliably establish where every peso went?
Those questions could determine whether Acosta’s testimony becomes merely another piece of evidence—or one of the most consequential moments in the confidential-funds case.
For the prosecution, the ₱125-million withdrawal is no longer simply an accounting entry.
It is becoming a money trail.
And the impeachment court must now decide where that trail ultimately leads.
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