Prosecution questions Davao City accountant's account of VP Duterte's P64,194 payment

House prosecutors on Tuesday challenged the testimony of Davao City Accountant Vingelin Bajan, a defense witness in Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment trial, over a PHP64,194.72 payment Duterte received from the city government on Jan. 10, 2023, according to a Philippine News Agency report carried by Balita.

Bajan told the Senate impeachment court that the amount was an overdue salary adjustment for Duterte's service as Davao City mayor in 2020 and 2021. The payment drew scrutiny because it was released about six months after Duterte became vice president. The Constitution bars the Vice President from receiving other compensation from the government or any other source during her term, unless the Constitution provides otherwise. The defense maintains the money was owed for work done before she took national office, not extra pay for her current post.

On cross-examination, private prosecutor Mae Divinagracia confronted Bajan with a 2023 Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Form 2316 that Bajan herself signed. Bajan acknowledged the form did not show the amount was a salary differential, did not state the years the pay was earned, and did not identify the supporting payroll or disbursement voucher. Asked why the adjustment came only in 2023, Bajan said that, based on the records, the adjustments appeared to have been overlooked.

The prosecution also flagged a PHP57,500 gap between Duterte's 2022 compensation as reported to the BIR (PHP881,012) and the figure in the city's financial statements submitted to the Commission on Audit (PHP938,512). Bajan attributed the difference to reporting methods and deductions, including leave without pay.

Questioning then turned to Bajan's past as a partner in the accounting firm Ampil Elises & Ciudadano. Her hesitation in confirming her signature on firm documents drew rebukes from senator-judges. Sen. Raffy Tulfo called her "very evasive," while Presiding Officer Sen. Francis Escudero said, "My patience is wearing thin, forgive me." Bajan eventually confirmed she withdrew from the firm in 2015, a year before Duterte, then mayor, appointed her city accountant.

Divinagracia presented records identifying the renamed firm, Elises & Ciudadano, as external auditor of GenCorp Industries Inc. and Metro City Chow Foods Corp., two companies the prosecution has examined in its unexplained-wealth case. Bajan said she did not know of the firm's engagements after she left. The prosecution also raised Davao City payments to 888 Bistro, a business registered under Duterte's husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, made while her brother Sebastian Duterte was mayor, arguing there was a conflict of interest.

Bajan also confirmed she had not brought proof that the Commission on Audit holds the original documents supporting the claimed adjustment. The testimony is part of Duterte's defense against the remaining impeachment charge, which covers at least PHP817.87 million in allegedly undeclared assets and unexplained wealth.