Office of the Vice President Assistant Secretary and Assistant Chief of Staff Lemuel Ortonio testifies before the Senate Impeachment Court on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, after being declared a hostile witness in Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial.
Questions over the Office of the Vice President’s confidential spending deepened Tuesday after an OVP official testified that informants or agents were given cash to purchase medicines, food, tables and chairs, while no official receipts for the actual purchases were presented to him.
OVP Assistant Secretary and Assistant Chief of Staff Lemuel Ortonio made the disclosure during the 18th day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, where prosecutors are examining how confidential funds were released, spent and documented.
Ortonio stressed that he had no firsthand knowledge of the purchases. His understanding of the process, he said, came from information provided by the OVP’s security personnel.
According to Ortonio, cash was released directly to informants or agents, who were then expected to buy the supplies themselves. Acknowledgment receipts documented the release of the money, but he could not confirm the existence of official receipts or sales invoices for the goods eventually purchased.
Presiding Officer Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero pressed Ortonio on the arrangement, asking whether informants essentially received cash to buy the food, medicine and furniture listed under the OVP’s confidential expenditures.
Ortonio confirmed that this was how the procedure had been explained to him.
His testimony adds to questions over the paper trail supporting the OVP’s confidential fund expenses.
Earlier in the trial, former Commission on Audit official Roderick Wamil testified about supporting documents submitted for confidential fund expenditures, including purchases involving medicines, food, computers, tables and chairs.
The handling of the money itself has also come under scrutiny.
Former OVP special disbursing officer Gina Acosta previously testified that Vice President Duterte instructed her to turn over confidential funds to then-security chief Col. Raymund Dante Lachica. Acosta acknowledged that Lachica was not the bonded special disbursing officer responsible for the funds.
During Tuesday’s proceedings, Ortonio was also questioned about the OVP’s initial request for Php 250 million in confidential funds in 2022. He testified that the amount was determined by Duterte and that the request was made before the office’s corresponding Physical and Financial Plan was completed.
The OVP eventually received Php 125 million in confidential funds in December 2022.
Prosecutors have focused on how that allocation was used and accounted for within the final days of the year, including the documents submitted to support the reported expenditures.
Ortonio was declared a hostile witness earlier in Tuesday’s hearing, allowing prosecutors greater latitude in questioning him through leading questions.
His cross-examination and the prosecution’s redirect examination are scheduled to continue Wednesday as the impeachment court further examines the OVP’s confidential fund transactions.