OVP security officer took back acknowledgment receipts for confidential funds
MindaNews / 24 August 2026 – Col. Raymund Lachica, former head of the Vice Presidential Security Group, took back the acknowledgment receipts for the P500 million in confidential funds for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) after submitting his liquidation reports, a witness confirmed during the impeachment hearing Monday.
Gina Acosta, former special disbursing officer of the OVP, testified under questioning from private prosecutor Amando Ligutan that Lachica, whom Vice President Sara Duterte had designated as security officer, that she returned the signed receipts to Lachica after submitting her liquidation to the Commission on Audit (COA).
Acosta said the receipts are no longer in her possession.
She added Lachica took back all the receipts he signed for the P125 million released in December 2022 and the three P125-million releases in 2023.
Acosta also testified that she used the same process of releasing confidential funds in cash to a security officer and giving back the signed acknowledgment receipts after liquidation while serving as special disbursing officer in Davao City before joining the OVP.
She also confirmed that unlike Lachica’s receipts which were returned to him, those of confidential fund recipients, including those bearing names like “Mary Grace Piattos, were retained and submitted to the COA.
Acosta further admitted that unlike her, Lachica posted no fidelity bond with the Bureau of Treasury.
Ligutan pointed out that the total amount released to Lachica as an unbonded officer was P500 million.
Acosta said the fund releases to Lachica were made to enable him to function as the security officer, but that she remains the accountable person.
Acosta confirmed the authenticity of an accomplishment report from December 21 to 31, 2022 shown by Ligutan that the OVP spent P16 million for rental of safehouses and other incidental expenses.
Asked whether the amount of P1.4 million daily for the rental was unconscionable or “kasuklam-suklam” under COA standards, she answered she relied on documents from Lachica as the officer who performed the confidential operations.
Defense counsel Lindon Bacquel objected to the question as argumentative. He was overruled, but presiding officer Francis Escudero but told Ligutan that the correct translation of unconscionable is “hard to accept,” not “kasuklam-suklam” (disgusting).
The prosecution showed some of the acknowledgment receipts for the confidential funds, some bearing the names “Xuniso Belat,” “Pusa” and “Pagong”. For each receipt shown, Ligutan asked Acosta if she saw for herself Lachica giving the money to the recipients.
Acosta gave the same answer to the repetitive questions: she did not personally witness it because it was Lachica who disbursed the funds and the payments were intended for confidential operations.
Acosta gave an evasive answer when asked by Ligutan if, aside from what Lachica told her, she had a way to verify if the payments really reached the supposed recipients.
“You said you did not see Col. Lachica give the money to the recipients. You said that your verification was through Col. Lachica himself. This is my question now. Aside from what Col. Lachica told you, you could not verify, you would not know if it’s true that the Col. Lachica gave the money to what he claimed to be recipients, would you?” Ligutan asked in Filipino.
“Nagverify ako kay Col. Lachica. Nagrely ako sakanya. Siya ang nag-implement ng confidential activities (I verified with Col. Lachica. I relied on him. He implemented the confidential activities),” Acosta answered. (H. Marcos C. Mordeno/MindaNews)
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