The Commission on Audit (COA) has denied the appeal filed by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and upheld its earlier ruling disallowing ₱73.287 million in confidential expenses incurred over just 11 days in December 2022.
During Tuesday’s impeachment hearing, 1-Rider Party-list Representative Rodge Gutierrez questioned COA auditor Atty. Gloria Camora, team leader of the COA Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office, on the audit findings against Vice President Sara Duterte’s office.
“The Commission Proper has decided already on the appeal,” Camora told the hearing. “They affirmed our disallowance.”
At Gutierrez’s request, Camora read the dispositive portion of the COA ruling into the record:
“Wherefore, the Petition for Review, treated as appeal, of Ms. Sara Z. Duterte, Vice President; Ms. Gina Acosta, Special Disbursing Officer, and Ms. Julieta L. Villadelrey, Chief Accountant, Office of the Vice President, is hereby denied. Accordingly, Notice of Disallowance No. 2024-002-100 dated August 8, 2024, on the confidential expenses of the OVP for the period from December 21 to 31, 2022, in the amount of ₱73,287,000, is affirmed.”
The ruling, dated April 10, 2026, was signed by COA Chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba and Commissioners Mario Lipana and Douglas Mallillin. Vice President Duterte, along with Acosta and Villadelrey as accountable officers, were named in the decision.
The disallowed amount forms part of the ₱125 million in confidential funds that the OVP spent in just 11 days during the final week of December 2022.
Camora explained that the disallowance was issued because the OVP failed to establish a clear link between the expenditures and actual confidential or intelligence activities.
“It just means that they did not comply with the joint circular,” she said.
Akbayan Party-list Representative Chel Diokno pressed Camora on the implications for public funds.
“Ang ibig po bang sabihin nito… dapat ibalik ng mga opisyal na iyon ang ₱73 million na confidential funds?” Diokno asked.
“Tama po,” Camora replied.
Camora further revealed that COA has already issued additional notices of disallowance covering the OVP’s use of confidential funds for the first, second, and third quarters of 2023.