MindaNews / 4 August 2026 – The physical and financial plan for the Department of Education’s confidential funds during Vice President Sara Duterte’s time as secretary had no specific activities that would justify spending such funds, in violation of Joint Circular No. 2015-01 on the use of confidential funds, a Commission on Audit (COA) official said.

In his testimony Tuesday before the Senate impeachment court, Roderick Wamil, former state auditor of COA – Intelligence and Confidential Funds Office, also testified that reward payments across DepEd’s four programs – counterinsurgency, abuse prevention and control within schools, anti-illegal activities operations, and anti-extremism and terrorism – violated the joint circular as well.

Wamil said DepEd’s physical and financial plan identified preventing recruitment of teachers and students by communist and leftist groups.

Upon questioning by Lorna Kapunan, counsel for the prosecution panel, Wamil said this target did not enumerate specific confidential activities, and did not mention what these groups are.

“Since hindi po naka-enumerate ‘yung kanilang specific confidential activities, hindi po naka-match ‘yung kanilang physical target on the specific confidential activities na paggagamitan nila no’ng kanilang fund for confidential (Since their specific confidential activities were not enumerated, their physical target could not be matched to specific confidential activities on which the confidential fund would be used),” Wamil said. 

On Monday, Wamil gave a similar testimony on the confidential funds of the OVP.

DepEd’s 2023 plan for increasing surveillance activities to prevent illegal activities in schools was allotted P9 million in the first quarter, P9.1 million in the second and P9.14 million in the third.

Wamil said Duterte approved the plans for the three quarters because her signature appears above the annotation “Approved” on these documents.

DepEd, however, did not submit a list of what it considered illegal activities and documents for any of the three quarters, he added.

The witness gave the same testimony concerning DepEd’s target of preventing recruitment of teachers and students by communist and leftist groups.

He further testified that DepEd’s three 2023 disbursement vouchers were approved by then-Finance Undersecretary Annalyn Sevilla rather than by Duterte as the agency head.

He said this was a violation of the joint circular, which provides that “the head of the agency shall be responsible for the approval of the cash advances.'”

Defense counsel Michael Poa objected to Kapunan’s question asking Wamil to explain what the “anti-extremism and terrorism program” entry in the plan means. 

Poa said the witness is not competent to answer because the document was submitted by DepEd.

Kapunan withdrew her question.

In his cross-examination of Wamil, Poa showed a 2014 budget document showing the OVP under then-Vice President Jejomar Binay also received confidential funds.

Wamil stated during the hearing on Monday that Duterte is the first Vice President to have received confidential funds.

Upon questioning, Wamil acknowledged he had no training in how confidential operations are conducted.

He confirmed that the OVP’s fourth-quarter confidential funds were not in the General Appropriations Act (GAA), but its grant was approved by the Office of the President, and that the OVP and DepEd confidential funds were both in the GAA.

He also confirmed he is aware that the laws prohibit unauthorized disclosure of confidential information.

Poa showed Wamil a 1992 COA circular which says that requiring receipts or invoices for safe house rentals and other expenses incurred during intelligence operations is impractical and could leak information or endanger agents.

Kapunan objected on the grounds that the 2015 joint circular has superseded the 1992 circular, and that the 1992 circular has not been authenticated by any witness and is covered by the original document rule.

Presiding officer Chiz Escudero noted the objection without prejudice to the defense presenting the original.

Upon questioning by Poa, Wamil confirmed the following: the OVP submitted to COA its liquidation report for its fourth-quarter 2022 confidential funds in the first quarter of 2023; it was on September 14, 2023 that COA issued its first audit observation memorandum on the OVP; there is nothing that prohibits using those funds in 11 days, that’s why it was not included in the audit findings but just a “statement of fact on the AOM.”

During the redirect examination, Wamil testified on the following: the basis for auditing confidential funds is the joint circular not a special training on confidential operations; confidential funds, including those granted by the Office of the President to the Vice President, are public funds that must be properly accounted for and liquidated.

Asked on recross, Wamil confirmed that the OVP and DepEd responded to his audit observation memoranda.

Poa said that whether COA considered the responses of the two offices were complete is a separate matter. (H. Marcos C. Mordeno/MindaNews)