Commission on Audit (COA) state auditor Xylene del Campo confirmed before the Senate impeachment court that several acknowledgment receipts (ARs) submitted by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) to justify 2023 confidential fund expenditures featured dubious food-inspired and public figure-resembling names.
Testifying during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, Del Campo explained that these documents were transmitted to COA’s Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (ICFAO) to satisfy audit observations.
“During the evaluation po, I tabulated ang acknowledgment receipts based sa date kung kailan sila na-execute, the expense and the amount po,” Del Campo told the senator-judges.
Prosecution data showed that Del Campo’s tabulation covered 1,049 ARs from the first two quarters of 2023—519 in the first quarter and 530 in the second. Aside from names seemingly derived from snacks and ingredients like Jay Kamote, Miggy Mango, Ralph Josh Bacon, and Diane Maple Lapid, the receipts contained altered variations of known personalities, including Pia Piattos-Lim, Anne Ongpauco, Heart Santiago, Feonna Villegas, Beth Revilla, Clarisse Hontiveros, and Jose Diokno Jr. The third quarter yielded additional flagged names, such as Matthew N. Keso, Beverly Claire Pampano, Renan Piatos, Xiaome Ocho, and Denise Tanya Escudero.
Listed disbursements included ₱140,000 to Piattos-Lim and ₱150,000 to Bacon for information purchases; ₱250,000 to Santiago for supplies; ₱500,000 to Villegas for medical and food assistance; and third-quarter disbursements of ₱200,000 to Kamote, ₱250,000 to Keso, and ₱50,000 to Mango.
Del Campo clarified that ICFAO merely conducted a compliance audit and did not verify if the listed individuals actually exist or have links to public figures.
“Sa ICFAO po kasi ang ginagawa namin is compliance audit po. Tinitingnan po namin kung compliant ba sa joint circular at kumpleto at proper ba ’yung mga liquidation documents,” she explained.
While Joint Circular No. 2015-01 allows information procurement, Del Campo highlighted that ARs labeled for supply purchases lacked critical details on where items were bought or used.
“Yung mga acknowledgment receipts po na purchase of supplies, hiningan ko po ng additional documentation to ascertain po na ipinambili po talaga ito ng supplies,” she testified.
The OVP attempted to back reward payments using a April 4, 2024 certification from Col. Raymund Dante Lachica alongside Protective Intelligence Operations Reports.
However, Del Campo stated the submissions failed to show specific operational achievements.
“Hindi ko po nakita ’yung particular accomplishments po na magwa-warrant sa payment of rewards. Ang nakalagay lang sa certification is a general statement that there were no untoward incidents. Pero hindi po ito naging sapat,” she said.
Furthermore, an August 8, 2024 Audit Observation Memorandum for the third quarter cited four critical findings: missing documentary proof of payment, P35 million in unevidenced reward disbursements, unlisted physical and financial plan activities, and an unsigned disbursement voucher.
Meanwhile, the Vice President’s defense team declined to confirm whether the flagged names were real individuals or aliases.