Manila: The House prosecution believes the Senate impeachment court can rule on the allegation that Vice President Sara Duterte has misused her confidential funds even if the Commission on Audit (COA) has yet to issue a final decision on its findings. At a press briefing Thursday, Kabataan Party-list Rep. Renee Co, spokesperson for the prosecution panel, said the court can base its decision on the testimonies and evidence already presented during the trial.
According to Philippines News Agency, Co emphasized that there is no reason for the impeachment court to wait for the COA to come out with a final decision on its adverse findings against the Office of the Vice President (OVP) on its use of confidential funds in the first three quarters of 2023. Co pointed out that the standards used by the impeachment court and the COA, as well as the penalties imposed at the end of the processes, are different. 'Iba ang standard, separate ang standard (The standards are different and separate). The standard here is measuring whether there was betrayal of public trust, and the standard of COA is its rules and regulations and applicable administrative rules and jurisprudence,' she said.
Senator-judge Juan Miguel Zubiri earlier asked the court to urge the COA to issue a final decision on its findings already so that 'we may be guided as judges.' Co said the two processes can proceed separately and senator-judges can base their decisions on what has already been presented in court for Impeachment Article I, which accuses the Vice President of engaging in a systematic misuse, misappropriation and irregular liquidation of a total of PHP612.5 million in confidential funds of the OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd) under her watch.
"Clear yung picture sa atin and other than 'yung maraming witnesses nagsasabi at the end of the day si VP Sara may accountability dahil yung pirma ay visible naman sa ating lahat. Ang ebidensyang nakikita natin (The picture is clear to us, and other than the many witnesses who said that, at the end of the day, VP Sara is accountable because her signature is visible to all of us. The evidence we are seeing) is tantamount to betrayal of public trust by VP Sara Duterte,' she added.
Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong, also a spokesperson for the prosecution panel, said the trial should proceed until such time that the court has reached a final decision. 'Whether or not other agencies have taken cognizance of certain matters that are related to the impeachment complaint is beside the point," he said. "The point is that the impeachment court, having to exercise its constitutional and exclusive power to try and decide, should continue on with the impeachment trial until such time that they have reached a verdict regardless of whether cases are pending,' Adiong said.
The COA is currently reviewing the motion for reconsideration filed by the OVP on the notice of disallowance it issued covering the PHP375 million in cash advances made on its confidential funds for the first three quarters of 2023. This is on top of the notice of disallowance issued by the COA for PHP73 million of the PHP125 million fourth quarter cash advances made by the OVP, which is already final. Adiong said the deliberations on Article I should proceed in the impeachment trial even if the OVP returns the PHP73 million as directed by COA. 'Whatever the decision of other agencies should not be a substitute of the Senate's verdict,' he said.
