Lawmakers on VP impeachment: Fight is over

MANILA, Philippines — The so-called boxing match in the Senate is basically over, after former Office of the Vice President (OVP) special disbursement officer (SDO) Gina Acosta’s testified that Vice President Sara Duterte authorized the release of P500 million in confidential funds, House prosecutors said.

“Speaking as a lawyer, it’s already over. This is because in the testimony of Ms. Gina Acosta – that is a clear instruction that at the highest level of the Office of the VP – the one who gave the instruction was not Acosta, not the chief of staff but the VP herself,” House prosecutor and Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon remarked.

Acosta, who took the stand Monday, testified that she gave the money to Duterte’s chief security Col. Raymund Dante Lachica upon the VP’s orders.

“We can basically wrap up today and proceed to the next article,” he declared, saying that with Acosta’s testimony, the prosecution would reassess whether all its remaining witnesses under Article I (misuse of confidential funds) still need to be called.

Ridon said responsibility should ultimately fall on the official behind the instruction rather than on lowly rank-and-file government personnel.

“We don’t want to punish the lowly employees who were just following orders. The most liable culprit is no less than the VP herself,” he stressed. — Mark Ernest Villeza, Bella Cariaso