If the ongoing Senate impeachment trial has done anything, it's bury respondent Vice President Sara Duterte under a mountain of evidence that's slowly but surely getting heavier each passing day.

Thus, said Bicol Saro Party-list Rep. Terry Ridon on Friday, Aug. 21 a few days after it was established by hostile witness Gina Acosta that Duterte had direct say in the turnover of P125 million in confidential funds to a security officer.

“Sa bawat araw po na dumaraan, ‘yun pong hakbang-hakbang at piece by piece po na pagpapakita ng ebidensya, pabigat po nang pabigat ito eh,” Ridon, a member of the House prosecution panel, said during an online press briefing.

(Each passing day, the step-by-step and piece-by-piece presentation of evidence becomes heavier.)

During the Aug, 17 hearing, Acosta, a former Office of the Vice President (OVP) special disbursing officer (SDO), told the Senate impeachment court that Duterte instructed her to turn over P125 million in confidential funds to former OVP security officer Col. Raymund Dante Lachica.

“Lalo’t higit, nakita ho natin doon sa testimonya ni Ms. Acosta, siya na ho mismo ‘yung itinuturo ng kanyang mismong tauhan na nag-utos ng pagbibigay ng pera, 125 million [pesos], kay Mr. Lachica,” Ridon said.

(Moreover, we saw in Ms. Acosta’s testimony that she herself was pointed to by her own staff as the one who ordered the giving of P125 million to Mr. Lachica.)

Acosta testified that she encashed the P125-million check in December 2022 and turned over the cash to Lachica upon Duterte’s instruction. She also acknowledged that Lachica’s role in handling the money was not reflected in documents submitted to the Commission on Audit (COA).

Ridon said Acosta’s testimony was already sufficient, in the prosecution’s view, to establish misuse of the funds.

“Sa totoo lang po, ‘yung testimonya po ni Ms. Acosta na nagsasabing si Pangalawang Pangulong Duterte mismo ang nagbigay ng utos na ibigay ‘yung P125 million to Col. Lachica, sapat na ho ‘yon doon sa pagpapakita po ng maling paggamit ng confidential funds,” he said.

(In truth, Ms. Acosta’s testimony that Vice President Duterte herself gave the order to hand over the P125 million to Col. Lachica is already enough to show the misuse of confidential funds.)

The P125 million was the first of four cash advances totaling P500 million in OVP confidential funds from December 2022 through the first three quarters of 2023.

COA disallowed P73.287 million from the OVP’s December 2022 spending and the entire P375 million in confidential funds released during the first three quarters of 2023, for a combined P448.287 million.

Duterte, Acosta, Lachica and other officials were among those held liable for the disallowed 2023 expenditures.

Ridon said the prosecution would decide as the trial progresses whether it still needs to present Lachica and Col. Dennis Nolasco, who served as a Department of Education (DepEd) security officer when Duterte headed the department.

Former DepEd SDO Edward Fajarda previously testified in House proceedings that he turned over the department’s confidential funds to Nolasco.

Ridon said any further testimony from the security officers would merely add to what the prosecution believes has already been established.

“So ibig sabihin, anything further than that, pandagdag na lang po ‘yon sa totoo lang. Kasi ‘yung talagang fact ng misuse, na-establish na ho ‘yon nang pinabigay ang pera ng OVP confidential funds para sa mga non-OVP, non-organic OVP personnel, katulad po ni Col. Lachica,” he explained

(So that means, anything further than that is just an addition, honestly. Because the fact of misuse was already established when the OVP confidential funds were given to non-OVP, non-organic OVP personnel, such as Col. Lachica.)

The prosecution is also preparing to present Fajarda on the P112.5 million in confidential funds released to DepEd in 2023. The amount was withdrawn in three P37.5-million tranches during the first three quarters of 2023.

Ridon said Fajarda’s testimony could further strengthen the prosecution’s case if he reiterates before the impeachment court that Duterte instructed him to turn over DepEd confidential funds to a non-DepEd personnel.

“Kung uulitin lang niya ho ‘yung pagsasabi na si Pangalawang Pangulong Duterte rin po ‘yung nagbigay ng instructions to give the DepEd confidential funds to a non-DepEd personnel, ‘yun po, I think mabigat na pong pagpapakita rin po ito ng confidential funds misuse,” he said.

(If she repeats that Vice President Duterte also gave instructions to hand DepEd confidential funds to a non-DepEd personnel, I think that would also be a strong showing of confidential funds misuse.)

The P500 million spent by the OVP and P112.5 million released to DepEd brings the confidential funds covered by the impeachment charge to P612.5 million.

The prosecution also plans to present Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) witnesses to scrutinize acknowledgment receipts used to account for the confidential funds.

Ridon said the PSA would testify on supposed recipients whose names could not be found in civil registry records, including “Mary Grace Piattos” and “Milky Secuya".

“So maipapakita ho talaga natin ‘yung pong pagiging fake, fictitious nitong mga taong ito. At siyempre, doon ho natin makikita na doon natatapos sa acknowledgment receipts ‘yun pong pagpapakita ng daloy po ng pera nitong mga confidential funds na ito,” he said.

(So we can really show the falsity, the fictitious nature of these people. And of course, we can see that it all ends in the acknowledgment receipts, which show the flow of money from these confidential funds.)