Commission on Audit (COA) auditor Roderick Wamil has highlighted two "firsts" from the Office of the Vice President (OVP) when it comes to the liquidation of confidential funds, in this case amounting to P612.5 million from 2022 to 2023.

Wamil served as a witness for the prosecution in Vice President Sara Duterte's ongoing Senate impeachment trial, particularly on article I, which detailed alleged misuse of these confidential funds.

He handled the audit of the P612.5 million during his time with the COA Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (ICFAO).

On Wednesday, Aug. 5, Wamil testified before the Senate impeachment court that the OVP under Duterte was the first government agency in nearly 10 years to submit only acknowledgment receipts (ARs) to liquidate confidential funds.

Wamil, who served from September 2014 to February 2024 with the ICFAO, said he had audited the confidential funds of more than 30 national government agencies, as well as numerous local government units (LGUs).

The testimony referred to the OVP’s liquidation of P125 million in confidential funds covering Dec. 21 to 31, 2022.

“So first time sa iyong 10 years na puro AR lang at walang sales invoice at walang official receipt?” Senator-judge Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan asked Wamil.

(So it’s the first time in your 10 years that there were only ARs and no sales invoice or official receipt?)

“Opo. At ganun po kadaming AR kaagad ’yung sinubmit,” the witness replied.

(Yes. And that many ARs were immediately submitted.)

Earlier, Wamil testified that the OVP submitted 849 ARs but no official receipts or sales invoices to support the liquidation of the P125 million in confidential funds.

The COA auditor also told the court Wednesday that he had never encountered medicines being given as "rewards" for intelligence work until he audited Duterte’s confidential funds.

Quizzed by Senator-judge Risa Hontiveros, Wamil said the practice was not normal based on his almost decade-long stint with ICFAO.

“Hindi po siya normal po (It's not normal), your honor. First time po doon sa may OVP po (It's the first time with the OVP), your honor,” Wamil said when asked whether medicines are normally given in exchange for intelligence information.

Hontiveros pointed to one AR showing that controversial confidential fund recipient "Mary Grace Piattos"--which pro-impeachment solons believed was a fictitious name--supposedly received P70,000 worth of medicines as reward for intelligence-gathering.

Wamil had earlier testified that the OVP’s liquidation reports reflected P122 million worth of medicines charged against its confidential funds.

He also testified that because the OVP submitted only ARs—and no official receipts or sales invoices—COA could not verify whether the reported purchases were actually medicines.

Hontiveros asked whether COA was able to determine what illness Piattos supposedly had or why medicines were given in exchange for intelligence information.

“I wouldn’t know po, hindi ko po malalaman since wala naman po doon sa document po na sinubmit,” Wamil replied.

(I wouldn’t know, I would not be able to tell since it was not in the document that was submitted.)

Wamil said the audit records contained no information identifying the illness or explaining the purpose of the medicines.

He added that while the ICFAO’s audit is document-based, auditors are authorized under Joint Circular (JC) No. 2015-01—which governs the release, use, liquidation and audit of confidential and intelligence funds—to seek additional information when circumstances warrant.

Hontiveros also asked what it meant when an agency released reward payments without submitting proof that its intelligence or surveillance operations had been successful.

“Ang ibig sabihin po niyan ay hindi po nag-comply ‘yung OVP po doon sa requirements ng joint circular,” Wamil said.

(That means the OVP did not comply with the requirements of the joint circular.)