A Commission on Audit rule limiting who can handle confidential funds became the pivot point Wednesday when Senator-judge Raffy Tulfo challenged how the Department of Education released P112.5 million to Edward Fajarda without paperwork naming him the agency’s special disbursing officer.
The figure surfaced on the 10th day of Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial through Nenita Camposano, who previously managed the LandBank branch serving DepEd. She told the court the sum had moved through three separate checks of P37.5 million apiece.
Pressing the former bank official, Tulfo wanted to know whether Fajarda had ever produced certification identifying him as the department’s designated SDO. Camposano answered that the branch acted solely on the documents Fajarda brought with him when he came to encash the checks.
Tulfo grounded his objection in a COA circular, which he read as restricting the disbursement of confidential funds to either the head of the agency or someone that official has formally authorized.
“Wow, no! Under the COA circular, it should only be the head of that agency who happens to be the Vice President,” Tulfo said.
He then walked through the alternative the rule allows. “Or, if the Vice President doesn’t want to, she can designate someone to serve as her SDO. She would then sign a document endorsing that SDO, who, in this case, happens to be Fajarda,” the senator-judge said, pointing to the missing endorsement as the gap in the chain that authorized the release.
