{"id":6488,"date":"2026-07-29T23:04:04","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T22:04:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/balitangklik.com\/?p=6488"},"modified":"2026-07-29T23:04:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T22:04:04","slug":"is-saras-defense-panel-resting-its-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/balitangklik.com\/?p=6488","title":{"rendered":"Is Sara\u2019s defense panel resting its case?"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Diego Morra<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Something was amiss when Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio\u2019s defense counsel Michael Wesley Poa did not question the testimony of former Landbank Shaw Blvd. manager Violeta Constantino about the withdrawal of a P125-million check by Gina Acosta, the former special disbursing officer of the Office of the Vice President (OVP), in December 2022. Constantino described the amount as \u201cunusual,\u201d and the biggest she had handled at the branch.<\/p>\n

The amount corresponds to the P125-million in confidential funds (CF) that Sara unlawfully spent in the final 11 days of 2022, when the OVP had zero appropriation for CF, as former ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro argued in August 2023. From July 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022, the OVP was still using the funds left by former Vice President Leni Robrero, who did not enjoy a single centavo of CF in the entire six years of the administration of ex-president Rodrigo Duterte, Sara\u2019s father. On this basis alone, Sara violated the provisions of the General Appropriations Act of 2022 (GAA 2022.)<\/p>\n

Constantino is a key witness inasmuch as she handled four checks at P125-million each that were withdrawn by Sara from December 2022 to July 2023. The former Landbank manager of the DepEd branch, Nenita Camposano, also oversaw the encashment of three DepEd checks worth P37.5 million each for a total of P112.5 million. The prosecution accused Sara of plundering the total amount of P612.5-million, corresponding to the money released by Constantino and Camposano. The two Landbank executives testified about the unusual amounts, saying Sara\u2019s encashments were the biggest they had handled.<\/p>\n

Intriguing as well on the 10th day of the Senate impeachment trial on July 29, 2026 was the apparent reluctance of Poa to grill Camposano as his cross-examination was comprised of two short questions, unusual for a lawyer who wants to drill holes into the testimonies of hostile witnesses. Camposano said that the P37.5-million encashment was really unusual at DepEd, telling the court that the amount was the biggest that DepEd had drawn. Constantino also described the P123-million withdrawn from her branch as unusual and the biggest sum withdrawn by the OVP. Poa probably failed to appreciate that the prosecution was trying to establish that the P125-million withdrawn by OVP and the P37.5-million from the DepEd ended up being illegally disbursed as CF.<\/p>\n

All of the money came from two Landbank branches but they ended up in the pockets of unnamed \u201cinformants\u201d like Mary Grace Piattos and cohorts. Landbank was the \u201cimbudo\u201d and the OVP and DepEd, as the Commission on Audit (COA) had confirmed, could not identify who got the money aside from presenting acknowledgment receipts (ARs) from beneficiaries who could not be traced. COA demanded that Sara return the money but no money was returned. Poa explained that<\/p>\n

Camposano and Constantino did not reveal anything derogatory against Sara, adding the panel is not disputing the checks. Yet, he could not dispute the possibility that the P125-million from Landbank ended up with Ramil Madriaga, who claimed that he delivered the money to designated receivers in one day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was nothing questionable or damaging in what the witness presented. The witness merely identified the checks, which is something we are not even disputing,\u201d said Poa. \u201cSo, I didn\u2019t want to prolong the proceedings and, you know, be petty by asking questions when they weren\u2019t even necessary.\u201d As to their characterizing Sara\u2019s withdrawals as \u201cunusual,\u201d Poa said those were personal opinions of the two former LandBank executives. \u201cI don\u2019t see how it will affect the case. It\u2019s not even an issue here. We\u2019re not questioning the validity of the encashment, are we?\u201d Poa said he was asking petty questions, indicating the defense wasn\u2019t thick as mince.<\/p>\n

Article 1 of the impeachment case rests on charges that Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio misused the P612.5-million in CF even as she was not entitled to a single centavo in confidential funds under the 2022 GAA, as confirmed by former ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro. However, the House committee on justice head the supplemental affidavit of Madriaga on April 14, once Sara\u2019s aide whom she now tags as a complete stranger contrary to documentary and video evidence. Apparently, Madriaga was deep-sixed by the Sara camp after he assisted Bataan farmers protesting the takeover of their land by Harry Roque and his pals. Madriaga later claimed that he was framed by this group and eventually charged with a capital crime and jailed.<\/p>\n

Madriaga alleged that the Vice President ordered him in December 2022 to coordinate with Col. Dennis Nolasco about delivering cash to allies in San Pablo, Laguna, a comedy bar in Quezon City, and the Office of the Ombudsman parking lot as a way of \u201creturning a favor.\u201d The money for the Sara money express was contained in four duffle bags, like the bags that bore the P125 million in CF drawn from Landbank in December 2022 and distributed to characters dwelling in parts unknown. Well, the Duterte Sting of 2016 continues. As your favorite satirist Mark Twain quipped: \u201cIt is easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.\u201d#<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Diego Morra   Something was amiss when Sara Zimmerman Duterte Carpio\u2019s defense counsel Michael Wesley Poa did not question the testimony of former Landbank Shaw Blvd. manager Violeta Constantino about the withdrawal of a P125-million check by Gina Acosta, the former special disbursing officer of the Office of the Vice President (OVP), in December […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3185,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editoryal"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t