MANILA, Philippines — A key witness in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial faced intense questioning Monday after repeatedly saying she could no longer remember how much confidential funding was allocated to Davao City during Duterte’s final years as mayor.
Gina Acosta, a former special disbursing officer (SDO) who handled confidential funds for the Office of the Vice President and previously worked with Duterte in Davao City, was declared a hostile witness during the Senate impeachment proceedings.
Prosecutor Amando Virgil Ligutan confronted Acosta over records showing that Davao City received ₱460 million in confidential funds annually from 2019 through 2022, when Duterte was mayor.
That amounts to ₱1.84 billion over four years.
When asked whether she remembered the ₱460-million annual allocation, Acosta repeatedly answered that she could not recall the amount, citing the passage of time and her age.
The exchange became one of the more striking moments of Monday’s proceedings, particularly because the transactions being discussed occurred in 2022—just four years ago.
From ₱144 million to ₱460 million
The Davao City confidential-fund issue has been raised previously in congressional investigations.
Philstar reported, citing Commission on Audit data, that Davao City’s confidential-fund allocation increased from ₱144 million in 2016 to ₱294 million in 2017 and ₱420 million in 2018, before reaching ₱460 million annually from 2019 through 2022.
In 2022, Davao’s allocation was reportedly substantially higher than those of other highly urbanized cities, with Makati City at ₱240 million and Cebu City at about ₱7.38 million.
The Senate impeachment court allowed prosecutors to bring up the Davao City spending despite objections from Duterte’s defense team.
The defense argued that the spending occurred while Duterte was mayor—not vice president—and therefore should not be treated as an impeachable act. Prosecutors countered that the testimony could help establish an alleged pattern in Duterte’s handling of confidential funds.
Acosta’s testimony under scrutiny
Acosta’s testimony has become significant to the prosecution because of her previous role as an SDO.
Earlier in the trial, she testified about the handling of confidential funds after Duterte became vice president. She also acknowledged that she relied on documents and information supplied by former Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group chief Col. Raymund Dante Lachica when verifying certain transactions.
The prosecution has separately questioned Acosta about ₱125 million in confidential funds released in late 2022, as well as another ₱375 million released in 2023, bringing the amount she acknowledged releasing from the OVP to ₱500 million.
The funds and their subsequent handling have become a central part of the impeachment proceedings over alleged misuse of confidential funds.
Why the Davao funds matter now
The Davao City figures are not themselves an allegation that the money was illegally spent.
Rather, prosecutors are using Acosta’s previous involvement with Davao’s confidential funds to establish what they describe as a possible pattern in Duterte’s handling of such funds.
The defense has maintained that the Davao transactions should not be considered part of the impeachment case because Duterte was serving as mayor at the time. The Senate impeachment court nevertheless permitted the questioning.
The issue has also drawn attention because a 2022 Commission on Audit report showed that Davao City had spent approximately ₱2.697 billion in confidential expenses from 2016 to 2022, covering Duterte’s second and third terms as mayor.
A dramatic turn during Monday’s hearing
The testimony took another turn when Ligutan later challenged Acosta over details of the Davao allocations that she had earlier said she could not remember.
In a subsequent exchange, the prosecutor pointed out that Acosta appeared to recall certain details about the confidential funds after initially saying she could not remember them.
Inquirer described the prosecution as questioning how the witness could recall some details while failing to remember the specific ₱460-million allocations.
The exchanges are likely to become an important part of the prosecution’s effort to test Acosta’s credibility before the Senate impeachment court.
For now, however, the testimony does not by itself establish that the ₱1.84 billion in Davao confidential funds was unlawfully spent. The figures, the witness’s recollection, the supporting documents and the legal relevance of the Davao transactions remain matters being examined during the trial.
The Senate impeachment court is continuing to hear the prosecution’s case against Vice President Sara Duterte.
Leave a Reply