Senator-Judge Alan Peter Cayetano stressed that his questions to the prosecution during the 20th day of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte were intended only to seek clarification and should not be interpreted as a debate between senator-judges and counsels.
Cayetano made the clarification before questioning prosecutor Atty. Reynaldo Robles about the prosecution’s position on the handling and disbursement of confidential funds.
“I’ll emphasize lang before I ask, this is a clarification. Because when I clarified with Congressman Diokno, some interpreted it as someone won or lost the debate. It’s not a debate and the senator-judges are not supposed to argue with you, nor you to us,” Cayetano said.
He then asked whether the prosecution considers the transfer of confidential funds by a special disbursing officer (SDO) to a person who is not an authorized and bonded accountable officer as potentially constituting fraud, or merely a violation of the rules.
Robles cited the Joint Circular governing confidential funds, saying the SDO is responsible for disbursing the funds and is not supposed to transfer possession to another person who is not an accountable officer.
“If the SDO transferred the funds to another person who is not an accountable officer and an SDO and not bonded, that would be illegal, Your Honor,” Robles said.
Cayetano followed up by asking about situations where an SDO may release funds to an operative who would then carry out activities in the field.
Robles explained that the confidential funds are advanced by the SDO and that repeatedly transferring the money to other individuals would undermine proper accountability.
“Sa pondo ng DepEd. Pag pinasa niya sa iba, ina-advance siya sa susunod na tao. Tapos, i-a-advance pa sa susunod na tao, wala na pong proper accountability,” Robles said.
Cayetano also sought clarification on what it means to be an “accountable officer,” asking whether the person becomes accountable when funds are misused, improperly handled, or fail to reach their intended purpose.
Robles responded that the joint circular identifies three accountable officers: the special disbursing officer, the accountant, and the head of the agency.
The exchange highlighted the impeachment court’s examination of the rules governing the release, handling, and accountability of confidential and intelligence funds as the trial continues.
