During Day 19 of the Senate impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, a high-ranking official from her office admitted that Col. Raymund Dante Lachica, a central figure in allegations regarding confidential fund misuse, is not an actual employee of the Office of the Vice President (OVP).
OVP Assistant Secretary and Assistant Chief of Staff Lemuel Ortonio made the disclosure under questioning by Senate President Pro Tempore Vicente “Tito” Sotto III.
Sotto directed the line of inquiry to Ortonio after the witness confirmed his administrative oversight of human resources and financial operations for the agency.
Ortonio clarified that Lachica’s role was assigned directly by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to lead the agency’s dedicated military contingent.
“Col. Lachica po is the group commander of the OVP SPG, and he is not an employee of the OVP, but there is an order coming from the AFP, designating him as the Vice President Security and Protection Group,” Ortonio stated.
When pressed by Sotto on whether Lachica maintained any official employment status within the agency, Ortonio replied, “Yes, po your honor.”
Testifying as a hostile witness presented by the House prosecution, Ortonio further testified that detailed knowledge of the OVP’s ₱625-million confidential fund disbursements was restricted exclusively to Vice President Duterte and Lachica, disclaiming any personal awareness of how the allocations were spent.
“I have no personal knowledge, your honor,” Ortonio informed the senator-judges.
Presiding Officer and Senate President Francis “Chiz” Escudero highlighted the situation, observing: “Even the Assistant Chief of Staff does not know. This was also the position of the Chief of Staff (Atty. Zuleika Lopez).”
Ortonio maintained that as agency head, the Vice President possessed exclusive knowledge regarding expenditures, while Lachica was privy to the implementation details due to his security post.
“So in your office, only VP Sara, as head of the agency, knows. You as Assistant Chief of Staff, do not know. The Chief of Staff does not know. Col. Lachica also knows,” Escudero pointed out.
“Yes, as head of the security of the OVP,” Ortonio confirmed.
The admission follows prior testimony from former OVP Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta, another hostile witness, who stated that Duterte directly instructed her to encash and release confidential funds to Lachica.
The proceedings occur against the backdrop of a Commission on Audit Notice of Disallowance targeting ₱73.287 million of the agency’s confidential funds for improper documentation, alongside prosecution scrutiny over the initial ₱125-million tranche spent in just 11 days in December 2022.