There is no provision under Commission on Audit (COA) rules that prohibits the disbursement of P125 million in confidential funds within an 11-day period, a former state auditor testified during the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday, August 4.

A former state auditor at the COA's Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office (ICFAO) Atty. Roderick Wamil made the statement under cross-examination by the defense panel, which has sought to challenge the prosecution's characterization of how confidential funds were spent by the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

Wamil said Joint Circular 2015-01, which governs the use of confidential and intelligence funds, contains no specific rule against releasing a large sum of money over a short span of days. He explained that the circular's only requirement is that a cash advance correspond to the recipient agency's needs for a period of up to three months — with no provision setting a minimum number of days over which the funds must be spent.

Because no such rule exists, Wamil said, the 11-day disbursement was not flagged as an audit finding. It was instead noted only as an observation in the Audit Observation Memorandum (AOM), a preliminary document distinct from a formal finding of irregularity.

The defense also pointed out that COA's own findings did not include any conclusive determination of misappropriation or pocketing of the confidential funds in question - an argument aimed at countering claims that the disbursement pattern itself was evidence of anomaly.

Wamil further clarified the limits of his own findings as a state auditor, confirming that observations and recommendations at his level are not final. Under COA procedure, only the Commission Proper - COA's highest decision-making body - has the authority to rule on Notices of Disallowance, which formally determine whether a disbursement was improper.

The testimony adds to a series of exchanges in recent hearings in which the defense has used COA documents and testimony to argue that scrutiny of the OVP's confidential funds has, so far, stopped short of establishing wrongdoing - a key point of contention as the impeachment trial proceeds.

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