MANLA (UPDATE) — Office of the Vice President Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta pointed to Vice President Sara Duterte as the one who gave her orders to give P125 million in confidential funds to the agency's security head.

Acosta bared this during the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability hearing on Monday.

Batangas 2nd District Rep. Gerville Luistro asked Acosta how they spent the confidential funds of the OVP in 2022.

Acosta said she gave the P125 million to a certain Col. Lachica and does not know where he brought the funds.

Col. Raymund Dante Lachica is the commander of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG).

"Nang maencash na ang tseke inform ang aking head of agency ang na i-release ko po sa aming security officer," Acosta said.

"May approval po kay Ma'am Inday Sara. I trust si Col. [Raymund] Lachica dahil tina-trust po siya ni ma'am Inday Sara," she added.

Luistro asked Acosta anew why she gave Lachica the money even if she is SDO and should be the one paying the recipients.

"Because po may utos si Ma’am Inday Sara sa kanya ko po i-release, kasi siya po ang nakaka-alam kung papaano po i-implement ang mga programs and activities in line po sa confidential funds.  Siya po ang mag-surveillance at monitoring po, sa kanya po yun, wala po akong alam." Acosta said.

Acosta initially said she, along with the designated security officer prepares the financial plan and physical plan for the confidential funds.

"In the financial po siya [Lachica] po ang magbibigay sa akin ng information or guide kung ano po ang magiging confidential activities po in relation sa confidential funds po na gagamitin," she said later on.

"Sa kanya po ako humihingi ng inputs or information with regards to the implementation of all the projects included under confidential funds po," Acosta added.

Luistro asked Acosta if she is aware of the responsibility her job carries.

"This is a very significant job because it entails a lot of trust and confidence because you are the one in charge of taking custody of the huge amount of money.  Tama?  As a matter of fact, to ensure the fidelity of this money, nire-require pa kayo ng fidelity bond, tama po ba?" she said.

"Siya po ang may alam kung kailangang i-implement na po ang mga project under confidential funds," Acosta said in response to why she keeps pointing to Lachica.

Luistro then asked Acosta who will be responsible if something goes wrong with the confidential funds, to which Acosta said, "Ako po."

The congresswoman reminded Acosta of Presidential Decree 1445, which states that disbursing officers cannot delegate their functions to others, like what she did.

"Nanaig po ang aking belief na may trust po ako kay Lachica dahil authorized po siya ni Ma'am Sara Duterte… Kasi wala po akong alam kung paano i-implement ang confidential activities. Si Sir Lachica lang po ang may alam," Acosta said.

Acosta was later rushed to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center after she admitted feeling shaky, following the Vice President's request to temporarily suspend session to give the OVP official a break.

As of 6:38 pm, the OVP legal team said Acosta was "unresponsive" which prompted House Medical Director Luis Bautista to declare an emergency.

Duterte asked permission from the House panel to leave the hearing to attend to her sick personnel. Acosta is the second OVP official brought to the hospital after facing lawmakers.

Lachica was also at the House panel hearing but he was not asked by lawmakers.

Earlier, former Department of Education SDO Edward Fajarda also admitted that he gave the agency's confidential funds to Colonel Dennis Nolasco.

He identified Nolasco as the DepEd's designated security officer, supposedly tasked to handle its confidential funds.

Fajarda said it was Duterte who designated Nolasco.

Fajardo also said he had no interaction with the recipients of the funds, and relied on Nolasco to provide receipts and other documentary evidence.

Acosta and Fajarda, along with other OVP and DepEd officials, were previously cited for contempt and ordered detained by the Blue Ribbon Committee for repeatedly failing to attend hearings despite multiple invitations and a subpoena.

They finally attended the committee’s 7th hearing on Monday.

The P37.5 million, part of the P112.5 million in confidential funds under DepEd, was encashed as a cash advance by SDO Fajarda during the first quarter of 2023. Two other checks of the same amount were withdrawn in subsequent quarters during Duterte’s stint at DepEd.

The P125 million encashed and handed over by Acosta to Lachica represented the confidential funds allocated to the OVP for the last quarter of 2022 but were utilized within just 11 days in December of that year.

The OVP the received an additional P125 million per quarter for the first three quarters of 2023.

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