The House of Representatives prosecution panel is mulling the possibility of asking the Senate impeachment court to subpoena Col. Raymund Dante Lachica after he was repeatedly identified as the person who received the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) confidential funds.

Former OVP special disbursing officer (SDO) Gina Acosta said Lachica, then head of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group, also implemented projects related to the confidential funds.

Prosecution spokesperson Ace Barbers and public prosecutor Bukidnon 2nd District Rep. Jonathan Keith Flores said no final decision has been made since the panel is still weighing whether Lachica’s testimony is still needed to substantiate the case amid overwhelming evidence and the time required to complete Article I.

“Pinag-uusapan naman ng buong prosecution team kung sino iyong sa tingin namin ay kailangang ipa-subpoena, kung sa aming paniwala ay hindi pa sapat iyong nakalap na testimony and evidence doon sa aming mga naka-line up na witnesses (The whole prosecution team is discussing who among the prospective witnesses will be subpoenaed if we think that the testimonies and evidence presented by previous witnesses are not yet enough),” Barbers said at a press conference after Monday’s trial at the Senate in Pasay City.

Lachica has become central to Acosta’s testimony after she testified that Vice President Sara Z. Duterte instructed her to release the first PHP125-million confidential tranche to him in December 2022 and that she did the same for three more tranches in 2023.

Acosta also said Lachica supplied operational inputs, implemented confidential activities, furnished fund utilization reports and reclaimed the internal documents he had signed after each liquidation.

His name, however, did not appear in the physical and financial plans, accomplishment reports, liquidation reports or certifications submitted to the Commission on Audit, according to her earlier testimony.

“If we feel that there is a need to add more witnesses, then we will probably ask the impeachment court to subpoena those people,” Barbers said.

Barbers said that additional witnesses are subject to the court’s five-day disclosure rule. He said the panel would comply with that requirement before presenting anyone not already scheduled.

The former lawmaker also cited a reported Armed Forces of the Philippines inquiry involving officers linked to the confidential fund issue, saying it “will not preclude the panel from asking for the presence of this witness if we feel that there is a need for it.”

Flores, meanwhile, said the decision belongs to the prosecution panel, with particular weight given to the leader of the team handling Article I.

“It’s the decision of the panel and siguro iyong opinion ng (on the opinion of the) team leader on that particular article,” Flores said.

He rejected the suggestion that the prosecution was lukewarm about presenting Lachica. The question, he said, was whether calling him would add something necessary after Acosta’s admissions.

“What’s important is that na-establish na walang kinalaman iyong SDO sa disbursement. Paulit-ulit din niyang sinabi na (the SDO has nothing to do with the disbursement. She also repeatedly sad that) she just relied on the statements made by Col. Lachica and the documents released by Col. Lachica,” Flores explained.

He said Lachica’s appearance would not erase what the prosecution considers an admission already on record: Acosta, the bonded SDO, did not personally make the downstream payments and had no personal knowledge of the recipients.

“Whether Lachica testifies or not, it’s already admitted na hindi siya ang nag-disburse ng pera. Binigay niya kay Lachica (Acosta did not disburse the funds; she gave it to Lachica),” Flores said.

The panel is also working against the trial calendar.

Flores said prosecutors do not want to extend the proceedings unnecessarily after establishing the points essential to their theory.

“We’re fighting against time also. Ayaw namin na humaba nang sobra ang trial na ito (We don’t want to extend this trial unnecessarily),” he said. (PNA)