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MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Vice President who drafted its defenses to state auditors on its use of confidential funds told the impeachment court Tuesday, August 25, that he filed the office's protective intelligence reports without reading them, and personally covered a P150,000 liquidation gap in 2024 that's yet to be reimbursed.
These were among the findings drawn by prosecutor Mae Divinagracia during her direct examination today of Lemuel Ortonio, the OVP's assistant secretary and assistant chief of staff.
Ortonio, who served as Duterte's designated liaison officer for its confidential funds, testified that protective intelligence operations reports — which the OVP cited as proof of legitimate operations — were given to him in sealed envelopes and were forwarded directly to the Commission on Audit (COA).
"Unfortunately, I was not able to read the reports because these are sealed already... I submitted the documents only to the COA," Ortonio told Divinagracia, who finished her direct examination of Ortonio prior to the court's adjournment.
Those intel reports were among the documents the OVP gave auditors to justify its 11-day spending of P125 million in confidential funds in December 2022.
Ortonio was the prosecution's sixth witness and the second to be formally designated as hostile by the court, giving way for Divinagracia to ask leading questions during the direct examination.
Tuesday was the ninth trial day devoted to Article I, which accuses Duterte of misusing P612.5 million in confidential funds at the OVP and the Department of Education.
Here are the three highlights from today's proceedings.
1. Ortonio wrote responses to COA over flagged P125 million in 2022, relied heavily on word of Acosta and Lachica
While Ortonio drafted the agency’s official explanations to state auditors and signed audit notices on behalf of Duterte, he admitted under oath Tuesday that he barely read the supporting financial documents behind them.
Ortonio testified that Duterte directly instructed him to prepare the OVP’s response to COA's audit observation memoranda.
However, in doing so, Ortonio said he relied entirely on Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta and Security Officer Col. Raymund Dante Lachica to supply the information.
"I only consulted the special disbursing officer and the security officer on the information that will be included in the reply," Ortonio said.
Under direct examination, Ortonio confirmed that while he saw the attached liquidation reports, certifications and accomplishment reports, he "did not anymore go into details" before sending them to COA.
However, Ortonio said he submitted the protective intelligence operations reports without having read them, in sealed envelopes, and did not ask Acosta or Lachica what specific security threats were identified.
The lawyers had previously pointed to the protective intelligence reports as the office's main proof that the P125 million spent in late 2022 bankrolled its capacity to monitor threats to the vice president's security.
Obligations incurred. Ortonio was also questioned by the prosecution regarding a letter he drafted and signed on Nov. 30, 2023, where he explained that the OVP's 2022 confidential funds (P125 million) were not actually spent in just 11 days, or from Dec. 21 to Dec. 31, 2022.
Instead, he wrote that a cash advance was drawn on Dec. 20, 2022, to facilitate payment for "obligations already incurred" and planned over a 3-month period (October to December 2022).
The prosecutor pointed out that "obligations already incurred" implies the OVP contracted debts or promised payments before the funds were legally allotted or released.
Divinagracia then asked Ortonio if he simply wrote those exact words "mechanically" as they were fed to him, without actually understanding what he was writing.
Ortonio defended his actions by stating: "First ma'am, hindi po siya mechanically na sinulat ko lang kung ano 'yung sinabi. Of course, based on the information that was provided to me, 'yun 'yung nilatag ko doon sa letter."
Presiding officer Sen. Chiz Escudero jumped in to question the legal implications of the OVP’s response, pointing out that its words of "obligations already incurred" imply it incurred debt before funds were released. "Obligations already incurred. Sa simpleng salita, bayarin," Escudero said. "May obligasyon na. May pangako na na bayaran."
"Hindi siya pangako na bayaran, but meron na siyang mga — how do I explain it, Sir? Parang meron ng arrangement na that will be done and then 'yung payment will be once available na siya," Ortonio said.
Ortonio said he was aware that government accounting rules don't allow agencies to incur financial obligations without prior appropriations, and that joint circular rules forbid using cash advances to reimburse past expenses.
2. Ortonio says he shouldered a P150,000 gap in OVP's books, has yet to be reimbursed
Ortonio also said he had used his own money to address a discrepancy COA found in the OVP's liquidation of the same P125 million.
In its notice of suspension, COA flagged a mismatch between two documents: the OVP's accomplishment report showed P125 million in confidential fund expenses, but the documentary evidence of payments backing those expenses totaled P125,150,000 — a difference of P150,000.
Ortonio was again the one who drafted the OVP's response. The office's first reply, dated March 13, 2024, attributed the gap to receipts that "may have been inadvertently mixed."
The OVP, however, followed this up with a supplemental reply stating that P50,000 in underpayment of reward and P100,000 underpurchase of supplies "were provided by Assistant Secretary Lemuel G. Ortonio out of his personal funds."
Ortonio testified that Acosta had approached him to ask for help because there was an urgent request from Lachica to address the gap. Because of this urgency, Ortonio said he provided the P150,000 from his personal funds.
"Were you able to recover the P150,000?" Divinagracia asked.
"Unfortunately, I was not reimbursed anymore," he answered.
"Up to today?" Escudero asked, to which Ortonio again said: "Yes, I wasn't reimbursed anymore."
3. No paper trail as OVP paid 'informants' to buy their own medicine, food, furniture
Addressing audit findings on medical and food aid items charged to confidential funds, Ortonio conceded that the OVP did not purchase supplies directly. Instead, he said that cash was handed to informants, who then signed acknowledgment receipts, Lachica said.
"Based on the information that was provided to me by the security officer, payments were made directly to the informants or the agents," Ortonio said.
Escudero then took over the questioning and drew a contrast with how the OVP handles its regular budget. Ortonio confirmed that under the office's regular medical and burial assistance program, the OVP buys medicine from partner pharmacies and releases it to clients as medicine, with receipts.
Under the confidential funds, by Ortonio's account, the cash went to the informant, who bought the food or medicine himself, and the payment doubled as his compensation.
Escudero asked whether any receipts existed at all.
"Based on the information I gathered, sir, no official receipts," Ortonio said.
Asked whether the acknowledgment receipts at least specified whether the money was for food or medicine, Ortonio said he had never seen them.
"Not a single one?" Escudero asked.
"No, sir. At that time, I was not able to see any of the acknowledgment receipts," he said.
Ortonio said Lachica told him there were no receipts for the chairs either.
"So what you're saying is binigay din 'yung pera sa 'informant,' that's your wording, para siya ang bibili ng chairs, at 'yun 'yung bayad sa kanya," Escudero said.
