TWO former managers of Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) found the hundreds of millions worth of withdrawals of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (Deped) on several occasions in 2022 to 2023 “unusual.”
During the resumption of the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday, July 29, 2026, the prosecution panel of the House of Representatives presented two witnesses -- Violeta Constantino, a former manager of Landbank Shaw Boulevard branch, and Nenita Camposano of Landbank DepEd Pasig branch -- in relation to Article I of the Articles of Impeachment.
Article I refers to the alleged irregularities in the use of P500 million in confidential funds of the OVP, and P112.5 million in confidential funds during her time as the secretary of DepEd.
Constantino confirmed that between December 2022 and July 2023, OVP special disbursing officer Gina Acosta encashed four checks worth P125 million each.
Responding to the query of Senator-judge Raffy Tulfo if such activity was normal considering she had been in the banking industry for 32 years, Constantino said it was “unusual.”
She said she had never experienced similar transactions with any other government agencies, saying transactions are usually being done through checks.
Constantino said they did not ask questions as to the purpose of the millions worth of cash but she denied giving exemption to the OVP.
"Kasi po may advice naman na po siya, so kumbaga dumaan naman po ito sa proseso nila kaya I don't think po na magtanong pa kami," she said.
(Because they already have an advice/recommendation, it has already gone through their process. So I don’t think we still need to ask further questions.)
"Wala na pong exemption kaya lang po itong sa particular na transaction ng OVP, bale mayroon naman kasi silang fino-forward na advice sa branch," she added.
(There is no longer any exemption. However, for this particular transaction involving the OVP, they have forwarded an advisory to the branch.)
She noted that all transactions exceeding P500,000 are being reported to the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC).
For her part, Camposano said the encashment of three checks worth P37.5 million each for the DepEd from February to July 2023 was made by special disbursing officer Edward Fajarda.
"With LandBank DepEd po, for government agencies, ano siya, unusual po ang amount ang pag-withdraw," she said, noting that the usual transactions of their branch does not exceed P10 million.
"Ngayon lang po 'yung time na may encashment na ganu'n kalaki," added Camposano, who had been a Landbank employee for 34 years.
Camposano said she is not also aware that the funds were part of the agency’s confidential funds.
She said Fajarda would use the fire exit in leaving the bank with the cash.
During a brief cross-examination, former DepEd undersecretary Michael Poa, who is also serving as a defense counsel of Duterte, clarified with Camposano Fajarda’s use of the bank's back door.
“Lumabas po siya sa fire exit dahil ang LandBank ay nakadikit sa DepEd compound, hindi po ba?… Lumabas siya dahil safer dahil nasa loob na siya ng DepEd, tama po ba?” Poa asked, to which Camposano answered in the affirmative.
(He exited through the fire exit because LandBank is attached to the DepEd compound, right?… He went out through there because it was safer since he was already inside the DepEd premises, is that correct?)
On the onset of the resumption of the trial, Poa and House prosecutor and ML party-list Representative Leila de Lima briefly clashed over the latter’s opening remarks.
Poa objected to De Lima's opening remarks, saying it is already a conclusion of law and facts which had long been discussed by the court.
“Kapag ang isang impeachable officer, tulad ng Pangalawang Pangulo, ay inabuso ang kapangyarihan sa paraang sumisira sa accountability o sumusuway sa pananagutan, dapat pa ba siyang pagkatiwalaan? Dapat pa ba syang manatili sa pwesto?” De Lima said before she was interrupted by Poa.
(When an impeachable officer, such as the Vice President, abuses their power in a way that undermines accountability or disregards their responsibility, should they still be trusted? Should they still remain in office?)
Trial presiding officer Francis “Chiz” Escudero warned De Lima but still allowed her to continue but not until De Lima violated the rule again.
“When the Filipino people entrusted their money to Vice President Sara Duterte, was that trust honored? That question will not be answered by politics, by general denials, by press releases. It will be answered by the witnesses, by the documents, by audit, and by the evidence. The prosecution is ready to present it,” De Lima added, prompting Escudero to cut her off and order her to present the prosecution witness. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)