Jay Kamote, Miggy Mango, Ralph Josh Bacon, Pia Piattos-Lim, Diane Maple Lapid.

These are some of the 23 dubious-sounding, food-related cknowledgment receipt (AR) signatories from the Office of the Vice President (OVP) that Commission on Audit (COA) state auditor Xylene del Campo confirmed on Tuesday, Aug. 11 before the Senate impeachment court.

Del Campo said the ARs were submitted by the OVP under impeachment trial respondent Vice President Sara Duterte to support confidential fund expenditures in 2023.

Specifically, the documents were sent to COA's Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (ICFAO) in response to audit observations.

“During the evaluation po, I tabulated ang acknowledgment receipts based sa date kung kailan sila na-execute, the expense and the amount po,” Del Campo told the senator-judges.

(During the evaluation, I tabulated the acknowledgment receipts based on the date they were executed, the expense, and the amount.)

For the first two quarters of 2023, the prosecution said Del Campo’s tabulations covered 1,049 ARs—519 for the first quarter and 530 for the second.

Aside from food-themed names, the signatories also included seemingly remixed names of famous personalities.

Among the selected receipts carried the names Pia Piattos-Lim, Ralph Josh Bacon, Anne Ongpauco, Heart Santiago, Feonna Villegas, Beth Revilla, Clarisse Hontiveros, Jose Diokno Jr., Diane Maple Lapid and John A. Lapid Jr.

Documents shown in court indicate the following expenses: P140,000 under Piattos-Lim for the purchase of information, P150,000 under Bacon for the same purpose, P250,000 under Santiago for supplies and P500,000 under Villegas for an expense described as medical and food aid.

For the third quarter, covering July 14 to Sept. 30, the names presented were Beverly Claire Pampano, Matthew N. Keso, Nova Santos, Salah Casim, Renan Piatos, Xiaome Ocho, Jay Kamote, Miggy Mango, Kokoy Villamin, “Contis, Connor Adrian,” Honeylet Camille Sy, Kristine Applegate Estrada and Denise Tanya Escudero.

The corresponding receipts included P250,000 under Keso, P200,000 under Kamote, P50,000 under Mango and P120,000 under Escudero. Their stated purposes included purchases of information or supplies and reward payments.

Del Campo made clear that ICFAO conducted a compliance audit and did not verify whether or not the named recipients existed or were related to similarly named public figures.

“Sa ICFAO po kasi ang ginagawa namin is compliance audit po. Tinitingnan po namin kung compliant ba sa joint circular at kumpleto at proper ba ’yung mga liquidation documents.”

(In ICFAO, what we do is compliance audit. We check whether it complies with the Joint Circular and whether the liquidation documents are complete and proper.)

The auditor also distinguished an allowable expense from a properly supported transaction. She says information purchases are allowed under Joint Circular (JC) No. 2015-01, which governs the use of confidential funds.

For supplies, however, Del Campo said the ARs did not establish where the items were bought or how they were used.

“Yung mga acknowledgment receipts po na purchase of supplies, hiningan ko po ng additional documentation to ascertain po na ipinambili po talaga ito ng supplies,” she testified.

(The acknowledgment receipts for purchase of supplies, I requested additional documentation to ascertain that these were really used to buy supplies.)

The OVP also submitted an April 4, 2024 certification by Col. Raymund Dante Lachica and Protective Intelligence Operations Reports to support reward payments. The certification referred to surveillance and information-gathering in 127 areas in the first quarter and 111 areas in the second quarter.

Del Campo said the reports listed Vice Presidential engagements, probable threats and operational timelines, but did not show the particular result required to justify rewards.

“Hindi ko po nakita ’yung particular accomplishments po na magwa-warrant sa payment of rewards. Ang nakalagay lang sa certification is a general statement that there were no untoward incidents. Pero hindi po ito naging sapat,” she said.

(I did not see particular accomplishments that would warrant the payment of rewards. The certification only contained a general statement that there were no untoward incidents. But this was not sufficient.)

For the third quarter, Del Campo identified four issues cited in an Aug. 8, 2024 Audit Observation Memorandum (AOM): missing documentary evidence of payment, P35 million in rewards without proof of successful information-gathering or surveillance, unspecified confidential activities in the physical and financial plan, and an unsigned receipt portion of the disbursement voucher.

In an earlier hearing of the Senate impeachment court, the defense counsel declined to categorically say if the controversial names that earlier surfaced, including Mary Grace Piattos, were real individuals or merely used as aliases.