Samotsari - Confidential Funds

Atty. Roderick Wamil, a COA auditor, has some revealing information on the 11th and 12th day of the impeachment trial.

It was so graphic it leaves little to the imagination. Kung hindi ka talaga sanay sa eskandalo ... mahihiya ka lalo na at milyon o bilyon ang perang nawawala.

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Unang tanong pa lang ni Atty. Lorna Kapunan sa auditor kung ano ang kanyang observation sa pag-audit ng confidential funds ng 3 magkasunod na vice presidents ... mga pasabog na agad ang  pinakawalan ng auditor.

Si Vice President Jejomar Binay at si VP Leni Robredo ay walang mga confidential funds.  Tanging si Sara Duterte lang ang mayroon.

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Sinundan ito ng pangalawang tanong. Sa Department of Education, ano naman ang mga obserbasyon mo sa 3 Department of Education secretaries na pinagsilbihan mo?

Wala po akong ina-audit kay Sec.Armin Luistro at Leonor Briones. Sara Duterte is the first Vice President na may confidential funds sa Dep Ed.

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Pagpasok pa lang niya sa fourth quarter ng 2022, naghingi na raw si Sara ng 125 milyon sa confidential funds.

Hindi pa tapos ang taon, said na ang pondo. Christmas noon, kaya allegedly on a shopping spree daw ang VP at kanyang dabarkads. Tsika lang.

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Sabi nga ng isang reader: "Nagpasalamat talaga ako at nagkaroon ng tensiyon ang Green at ang Pula."

Aba, kung wala silang alitan ... hindi kayang mapahindian ni BBM ang mga spoiled na confidential funds demands ng Prinsesa ng Dabaw. Di ba balita noon ang ma-pritsong lambing ni Sara na gagamitin niya ang presidential helicopter to allow her to get "home in time to tuck her children to bed"?

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Sabi ni Atty. Roderick Wamil, ang paggamit daw ng confidential funds ni VP ay ilegal at improper.

Sa tindi ng statement na ’yan… hindi na oobra ang mga bulok na katwiran at dahilan ni Cayetano: "Just because it is unusual… it is illegal" (his line of reasoning sa mga bank exec ng Land Bank of last week's trial.)

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Senator Imee Marcos and COA official Roderick Wamil didn't have a hearing—they starred in a telenovela where the script was written in invisible ink. 

Marcos played the frantic defense attorney trying to save the day, while Wamil played the human speed bump who kept answering her dramatic soap-opera gasps with dry, lethal receipts.

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The shutdown breakdown is obvious. The Plot: Senator Imee is trying her absolute hardest to spin secret funds into a misunderstood act of charity.

The Climax: Wamil in return, is treating the senator’s leading questions like annoying pop-up ads on YouTube.

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The punchlines also are begging for attention. When Imee enters the scene, her script niya ay nag-tumbling. It wasn’t an investigation into missing millions; it was a desperate audition for Vice President Sara Duterte’s 2028 campaign.

It is just too bad, every time Marcos tried to hand Wamil a clean narrative on a silver platter, he handed it right back with a prima facie smackdown.

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Si Imee Marcos naman, gustong ilaglag si Fajarda at Acosta, maisalba lang ang prinsesa ng Davao. Kapag naiipit na ... laglagan na ba? Mabuti na lang hindi kinagat ni Wamil.  

Palusot ni Imee: "Ikaw kasi, palagi mo akong inaaway." Guniguni mo lang yon, Madam. Walang umaaway sa iyo.

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Imee: Ang liwa-liwanag na hindi si VP ang payee.  The special disbursing officer is the one designated by the head of the agency to have custody. In the case of OVP, si Gina Acosta yon. In the case of DepEd di ba si Edward Fajarda yon?

Wamil: That is not entirely correct, Your Honor. Because in the joint circular, it is the responsibility of the head of the agency to approve and oversee yung cash advance.

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Imee: Ang liwanag naman na hindi si Sara Duterte ang payee. Hindi naman sinabi na sa kanya ang pera. Di ba nasa SDO?

The Vice President has the primary responsibility. Nasa Sec 102 of PD 1445 ang kasagtan. (It says: It establishes primary and secondary responsibility. It states that the head of a government agency is immediately and primarily responsible for all agency funds and property, while custodians or caretakers are immediately responsible to the agency head)

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Senator-Judge Imee Marcos argued that Special Disbursing Officers Gina Acosta and Edward Fajarda are the primary accountable officers under audit rules. 

Wamil and subsequent COA clarifications disagreed, stating that the head of the agency is also accountable for approving the cash advances, ensuring agency-wide utilization, making accountability shared rather than restricted solely to the SDOs.  VP Sara, as agency head, shares liability.

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Pinagtanggol ni Alan Peter "Neutral" Cayetano na hindi pa raw pinal ang prima facie evidence ng COA, pero sa ginawa niyang iyon, parang inamin din nilang may bigat na ng paglabag sa batas.

Listening to him, it sounds like a contradictory defense. Dismissing preliminary findings as "not final" implicitly acknowledges that an actionable legal presumption of wrongdoing already exists.

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Pagkatapos, idiniin naman ni Imee na ang mga tauhan ang may sala at hindi si Sara—isang tahasang pag-amin na talagang may maling paggamit ng pondo. 

Sa halip na ipagtanggol, mas lalo lang nilang ibinaon sa hukay ang kaso ni Sara sa pamamagitan ng sarili nilang mga palusot.

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What Imee did was a "hao shao" lawyering for dear friend Sara Duterte. Sisihin ba naman si Acosta at Fajarda?

Blaming the staff instead of the principal, legally and logically, confirms that fund misuse actually occurred within the office.

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Ang ginawa nina Alan Peter at Imee is not well thought out… hindi pinag-isipan… basta lang makakuha ng airtime, thinking they will surely get pogi points. Yon ang akala nila.

The arguments they shared (are self-incriminating logic) meant to clear or help Sara Duterte ... instead, it ended up reinforcing the evidence of liability. 

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