A former Land Bank of the Philippines official described as “unusual” the large sum of cash withdrawals made by the Office of the Vice President (OVP), as she testified on the 10th day of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday, July 29.

Violeta Constantino, former department manager of LandBank’s Shaw Boulevard branch, told the impeachment court that the scale of the withdrawals stood out compared to other government transactions handled by the bank.

“Unusual po ito,” the witness said.

Constantino said she had not encountered any other government agency making withdrawals of similar magnitude. Despite this, she noted that bank personnel did not question the transactions’ purpose, as the OVP had issued an advice and the withdrawals went through standard banking procedures.

She clarified that she was unaware at the time that the funds were intended for intelligence-related purposes.

Constantino also testified that the total amount of checks encashed by the OVP at the branch reached around half a billion pesos.

She added that four of the checks, each worth ₱125 million, were reportedly issued under the name Gina F. Acosta.

Constantino further said that the original copies of the negotiated cheques have already been shredded in accordance with bank policy, which requires a one-year retention period for such documents.

As a result, the bank no longer has the physical copies of the cheques after the retention period lapsed.

The impeachment proceedings center on allegations of misuse and misappropriation of confidential funds linked to the OVP.