Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson raised serious concerns on Wednesday over the Commission on Audit’s (COA) decision not to inspect the physical vault holding records connected to Vice President Sara Duterte’s confidential and intelligence funds, particularly following red flags over the use of fictitious-sounding aliases.
Speaking during the 15th day of Duterte’s impeachment trial, Lacson directed questions at state auditor Xylene Mae del Campo regarding whether the Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Unit (ICFAU) had sought permission to check the vault as permitted under official COA guidelines.
“Kasi kung maraming aliases na nagdududa kayo, di ba natural lamang, logically, isipin niyo, mainspeksyon nga yung vault kung meron talagang totoong tao sa likod ng aliases?” Lacson said.
In response, Del Campo explained that while vault inspections are authorized under justifiable circumstances, the ICFAU is required to obtain prior clearance from the COA chairperson. She confirmed to the court that no such authorization was requested or secured during their examination.
Lacson argued that skipping this crucial step undermines the thoroughness and reliability of the overall audit effort.
“My point is parang kulang yung ginawa ninyong trabaho. Parang hindi kumpleto,” he said.
The senator emphasized that opening the vault could have provided auditors access to original documentation and baseline signature samples, enabling them to verify whether the questioned signatures were genuine or falsified.
Del Campo responded that the matter would need to be elevated to higher officials.
Wednesday’s proceedings focused on Article I of the impeachment complaint, which accuses the Office of the Vice President of mismanaging and misappropriating ₱612.5 million in confidential funds.