MANILA — A former Commission on Audit (COA) official told the Senate impeachment court on Wednesday that existing government rules governing confidential and intelligence funds neither expressly allow nor prohibit the use of aliases in official fund records, underscoring what senators described as a gap in current audit regulations.
Testifying on the 13th day of Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio’s impeachment trial, prosecution witness Roderick Wamil said the 2015 Joint Circular on confidential and intelligence funds is silent on whether codenames or aliases may be used by recipients of confidential fund disbursements.
“Based on the provisions of the joint circular, it is neither allowed nor prohibited since silent po ang joint circular as to that,” Wamil told Senator-Judge Bam Aquino.
The issue surfaced during questioning on acknowledgment receipts submitted by the Office of the Vice President (OVP), which bore names that later drew public scrutiny, including “Mary Grace Piattos,” “Mico Harina,” “Nova Santos,” “Patty Ting,” “Andy Lim,” “Alejandro Pikit,” and “Feonna Biong.”
The joint circular, issued by the COA, Department of Budget and Management, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Governance Commission for GOCCs, and Department of National Defense, prescribes the rules governing the release, utilization, reporting, and audit of confidential and intelligence funds.
Wamil testified that auditors have no independent means of determining whether names appearing in acknowledgment receipts are aliases.
When asked by Aquino whether documents submitted to COA should generally identify actual individuals, Wamil answered in the affirmative.
Senator-Judge Erwin Tulfo then asked whether the absence of an express prohibition meant aliases were automatically allowed.
“Hindi po (no), Your Honor. It is neither allowed nor prohibited,” Wamil replied.
Wamil explained that COA’s review of the OVP’s confidential fund transactions was limited to checking compliance with the provisions of the joint circular and did not extend beyond its prescribed scope.
“Ang focus po ng audit namin ay compliance audit. So kung ano ang provision ng circular, ‘yun po ang ginagawa naming basis for our audit po,” he said.
Senator-Judge Imee Marcos also asked why COA did not issue findings against the OVP over the use of unusual names in the acknowledgment receipts.
Wamil said no audit finding was made because the governing circular contains no specific provision addressing the use of aliases.
“Since what we did was a compliance audit po, at wala namang provision ‘yung circular as to the use of aliases, yes po, wala po kaming findings for that,” he said.
Senator-Judge Panfilo Lacson, meanwhile, questioned the limitations of the current audit process, saying audits based solely on submitted documents may leave important issues unresolved. He suggested that COA recommend amendments to the joint circular to strengthen future audits.
“Parang bitin. In fairness to the concerned offices or persons na ina-audit, dapat kumpleto ‘yung due process ‘di ba? Kasi kung paper lang, magre-rely lang kayo sa mga submissions, hindi ninyo inaalam, you don’t go further than that,” Lacson said.
The Senate impeachment court is hearing allegations that Duterte improperly used confidential funds during her tenure as Vice President./PN
