Former Office of the Vice President (OVP) special disbursing officer (SDO) Gina Acosta on Monday said she did not know why Vice President Sara Duterte chose her twice to handle confidential funds as the House prosecution questioned her qualifications for the sensitive post.
Acosta served as SDO for confidential funds of the Davao City government when Duterte was mayor before taking on the same role at the OVP after Duterte became Vice President.
During redirect examination, House prosecution counsel Amando Virgil Ligutan zeroed in on Acosta’s educational background and lack of training in confidential operations after she handled PHP500 million in OVP confidential funds as an accountable officer.
Acosta, a hostile witness, said she earned a degree in customs administration from MATS College of Technology in Davao City and did not take a licensure examination.
She also acknowledged having no training in confidential operations, although she noted that the governing rules did not specify such training as a requirement for an SDO.
Ligutan then questioned why Duterte had picked her to handle confidential funds in both Davao City and later the OVP.
Seeing Acosta’s hesitation to answer, Presiding Officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero asked her: “Kung wala kayong training sa confidential activities, bakit po kayo ang napili bilang SDO para panghawakan ang confidential fund? Hindi lamang ng OVP, pati ng sa Davao po (If you have no training on confidential activities, why were you chosen as SDO handling confidential funds? Not only at the OVP but also in Davao).”
“Hindi ko alam po, Your Honor, kung bakit ako po ang kinuha ng Vice Presidente as SDO (I don’t know, Your Honor, why the Vice President chose me as SDO),” Acosta replied.
“Sa OVP at sa City of Davao (In OVP and Davao)?” Escudero clarified.
“Opo. Sa dalawa po (Yes, in both), Your Honor,” Acosta said.
Ligutan then raised whether Acosta was repeatedly chosen because she would simply follow Duterte’s orders.
“Hindi po ba naging SDO ka because you follow orders blindly (Didn’t you become an SDO because you follow orders blindly)?” Ligutan asked.
The defense objected that the question was argumentative.
After it was reformulated, Acosta was asked whether following orders was, in her view, the reason Duterte designated her SDO in Davao City and the OVP.
“Hindi ko alam ( don’t know), Your Honor,” she replied.
Ligutan pressed further: “Hindi mo masabi na dahil sinusunod mo lahat ng inuutos sa iyo (You cannot say because you follow all that was ordered to you)?”
“Hindi ko alam, Your Honor. Basta ako, ginagawa ko lang, Your Honor, ang aking pagiging SDO (I don’t know. I am just doing my duties as an SDO), Your Honor,” Acosta said.
Ligutan also challenged Acosta on whether an SDO entrusted with confidential funds should at least have “common sense” even if specialized training was not required.
“May utak po ako (I have brains), Your Honor,” Acosta replied.
The questioning came after Ligutan confronted Acosta with Joint Circular 2015-01, which defines an SDO as the head of an agency or a regular employee designated by the agency head to be in charge of making confidential fund disbursements.
Acosta maintained that she was the one who disbursed the funds while Col. Raymund Dante Lachica, Duterte’s designated security officer, implemented the confidential activities.
“Ako po ang nag-disburse, Your Honor. Hindi po siya ang nag-disburse, siya lang po ang nag-implement (I disbursed the funds, not him. He just implemented it), Your Honor,” Acosta said.
Acosta earlier admitted releasing four PHP125-million cash tranches totaling PHP500 million in OVP confidential funds to Lachica from December 2022 through the third quarter of 2023.
Lachica was not fidelity-bonded, while Acosta remained the accountable officer for the funds. Acosta is the prosecution’s first hostile witness in Duterte’s impeachment trial. (PNA)