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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider 'Laglagan' tactic? Ridon chides VP Duterte defense for passing blame to agency employees

'Laglagan' tactic? Ridon chides VP Duterte defense for passing blame to agency employees

Published Aug 8, 2026 04:39 pm

At A Glance

  • Rep. Terry Ridon and the House prosecution team say Vice President Sara Duterte cannot shift liability for the P612.5 million confidential funds misuse to rank-and-file staff.
  • Ridon stresses that only the head of agency has authority to release funds, and testimony shows the Vice President herself gave the final approval.
  • He argues that COA findings and missing documentation prove Duterte had absolute control, making it unfair to hold ordinary employees solely responsible.
Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon (left), Vice President Sara Duterte's defense team (MANILA BULLETIN, Facebook)
Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon (left), Vice President Sara Duterte's defense team (MANILA BULLETIN, Facebook)


Are Vice President Sara Duterte's lawyers purposely throwing rank-and-file employees of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd) under the bus regarding article I or the confidential funds misuse allegation?
Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon and the rest of the House prosecution team think so.
Speaking in a news forum in Quezon City on Saturday, Aug. 8, Ridon said attempts to pin liability on Special Disbursing Officers (SDOs) and other staff ignore this basic rule in government: the head of the agency is ultimately responsible for how public funds are used.
"Hindi ho natin puwedeng sabihin na yung [SDO] lang yung pwede hong itali dito po sa maling paggamit ng confidential funds. Hindi ho natin puwedeng sabihin na yung accountant lang yung puwede ho natin itali sa disbursement of confidential funds," said Ridon, who added that they were seeing signs of this argument from the defense.
(We cannot say that only the SDO can be held accountable for the misuse of confidential funds. We also cannot say that only the accountant can be tied to the disbursement of confidential funds.)
The confidential funds under scrutiny in the trial--particularly under article I of the articles of impeachment--total P612.5 million, consisting of P500 million released to the OVP from the fourth quarter of 2022 to the third quarter of 2023 and P112.5 million released to the DepEd. Respondent Duterte served as education secretary from 2022 to 2024.
“Huwag ho tayong magbolahan dito na pwede ikulong lang, pwedeng ilaglag lang yung ordinaryong kawani nang hindi po pinapanagot, yung pinakatuktok yun hong hepe ng particular na opisina ng OVP," said Ridon.
(Let us not fool ourselves into thinking we can just jail or scapegoat ordinary staff without holding accountable the very top—the head of the particular office of the OVP.)
The lawyer-solon stressed that even if SDOs physically handle the money, they cannot release funds on their own.
“Kailangan po ng pirma ng head of agency. Walang lalabas na pera, walang tseke na mai-issue pag wala hong pirma ng head of agency," Ridon noted.
(The signature of the head of agency is required. No money will be released, no check will be issued without the signature of the head of agency.)
He contended that authority to release funds also means responsibility for how those funds are spent.
Ridon also pointed to earlier testimony showing that the Vice President had direct control over the release of confidential funds. “Ang sabi ho ng mga taong ito, the final green light to disburse the confidential funds was made by the VP herself."
(The people said that the final green light to disburse the confidential funds was made by the Vice President herself.)
Referring to the Commission on Audit's (COA) findings on the P612.5 million--as laid out in the trial-- Ridon said, "Walang kaukulang dokumento para patunayan kung bakit naglabas ng ganitong kalaking pera."
(There is no corresponding document to prove why such a large amount of money was released.)
Ridon said these findings support the argument that the Vice President had full control over how confidential funds were used by her offices.
“So ibig sabihin, malinaw ho yung absolute control, absolute authority ng Pangalawang Pangulo not just on the disbursement of confidential funds but absolute authority over the office itself,” he said.
(It means the Vice President clearly had absolute control and absolute authority not just over the disbursement of confidential funds but over the office itself.)
Ridon added that it would be unfair and unrealistic to hold only lower-level personnel responsible.
“Ito po ay mga ordinaryong kawani ng OVP. I do not think, ladies and gentlemen, these particular personalities can in fact be able to dispense, disburse confidential funds without the final authority from the VP,” the prosecutor further said.
(These are ordinary staff of the OVP. I do not think, ladies and gentlemen, that these particular individuals could dispense or disburse confidential funds without the final authority from the Vice President.)

Related Tags

Terry Ridon IMPEACHMENT confidential funds Sara Duterte OVP DepEd
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