Witness: Duterte had no basis to use secret funds as VP or DepEd chief

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MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte had no authority to use confidential funds for her personal activities or security, and neither the Office of the Vice President (OVP) nor the Department of Education (DepEd) had the mandate to conduct “confidential operations” when she was heading the two offices.

A state auditor made these assertions as she finished her testimony as a witness for the prosecution in Duterte’s Senate impeachment trial on Wednesday.

Xylene Mae del Campo, supervising auditor of the Commission on Audit’s Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (COA-Icfao), was made to explain the scope of the OVP and DepEd’s functions during redirect examination by private prosecutor Lorna Kapunan on Day 15 of the trial.

The defense had sought to establish on cross-examination that confidential funds were used for security and surveillance rather than for Duterte’s personal benefit.