Lawyer-solon Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon said the signing of disbursement documents for confidential funds was not a mere ministerial act; thus, such cannot be invoked as a defense in the impeachment proceedings against Vice President Sara Duterte.

Ridon made this point during the House Committee on Justice's deliberations Tuesday, March 3 on the allegations contained in Vice President Duterte's impeachment complaints.

“People actually go to jail for basically just signing disbursement documents,” Ridon told the committee chaired by Batangas 2nd district Rep. Gerville "Jinky Bitrics" Luistro.

Among the allegations tackled was the alleged amassing and conversion of P500 million in confidential funds allocated to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) for fiscal years 2022 and 2023.

“People are in the Sandiganbayan today because they had signed disbursement financial documents. So saying that it is ministerial is not an actual defense,” said Ridon, who was referring to the Philippine anti-graft court.

The party-list legislator said Commission on Audit (COA) findings, including Audit Observation Memoranda (AOMs) and Notices of Disallowance (NDs), form part of the evidentiary backbone of the impeachment complaint.

“The documents contained in AOMs and NDs are also the body of evidence which constitutes the basis for the proceedings that we have today,” he pointed out.

Ridon was responding to arguments raised by Quezon City 4th district Rep. Jesus “Bong” Suntay that signing disbursement documents was ministerial and that COA findings were appealable.

“Impeachment proceedings operate separately and independently of administrative proceedings of the COA,” he told Suntay.

“So the statement that AOMs and even NDs are essentially appealable cannot prevent impeachment proceedings to occur and proceed as it should,” he added.

Ridon also questioned the use of confidential funds for activities outside their legal scope, and noted they were allegedly spent on team-building activities and other items that do not fall within the definition of proper confidential fund use.

On the reported rental of “safe houses", Ridon cited congressional records showing that a whopping P16 million was spent, including roughly P500,000 over 11 days — equivalent to expenditures of about P1.36 million per month.

“And the question therefore: Saan po iyong mga safe houses na ito? (Where are these safe houses?)” he asked.

“If we are talking about P1.3 million a month in rental of property, these safe houses should be in Forbes Park. These safe houses should be in Dasmariñas Village. These safe houses should be in the most expensive condominiums in Bonifacio Global City,” Ridon said.

“‘Pag wala ho ’yun doon mga kaibigan, parang hindi ho tama rin ’yung sinasabing paggamit ng confidential funds (If that isn’t there, my friends, then the supposed use of confidential funds also doesn’t seem right)," he underscored.