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Gina F. Acosta

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Gina Fuerzas Acosta (born May 15, 1965) is a government official currently serving as a staff member at the Office of the Vice President of the Philippines (OVP) under Sara Duterte. Designated as a special disbursing officer at the office, Acosta has been cited as the official who directly coordinated with vice president Duterte in handling the OVP's confidential funds in 2022 and 2023. During a House committee hearing in November 2024, Acosta testified that she disbursed the funds solely to Col. Raymund D. Lachica, chief of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group, upon the orders of Duterte.

Gina F. Acosta
Vice Presidential Staff Officer VI
Incumbent
Assumed office
July 2022
Vice PresidentSara Duterte
Personal details
Born (1965-05-15) May 15, 1965 (age 59)
Compostela, Davao del Norte[1]
SpouseAndy Acosta

Career

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Davao City

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Acosta was hired as a staff member of the Davao City government during the mayorship of Sara Duterte in the 2010s.[2] She last held the position of "Supervising Administrative Officer" under the Budget Control and Project Monitoring Division at the Davao City Budget Office prior to becoming a staff member at the Office of the Vice President of the Philippines (OVP) in Mandaluyong when Duterte was elected vice president in 2022.[3]

Office of the Vice President

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As Vice Presidential Staff Officer VI, Acosta was designated as a special disbursing officer (SDO) at the OVP.[4] Due to the compartmentalized structure of the office, chief of staff Zuleika T. Lopez alleged that Acosta directly coordinated with vice president Duterte in the handling of the office's confidential and intelligence funds (CIF) without the mediation of the chief of staff, with Lopez denying any knowledge of how the CIF were used at the OVP.[5][6]

In December 2022, Acosta withdrew ₱125 million in confidential funds from a branch of Land Bank along Shaw Boulevard in Metro Manila, placing them in duffel bags with the help of four security personnel.[5][7] The eventual disbursement of this amount of funds by the OVP within 11 days was heavily scrutinized for its dubious utilization at an unusual rate, with it being initially questioned by the Commission on Audit and lawmakers during a plenary debate at the House of Representatives in September 2023[8] and later investigated during separate budget hearings conducted by the House Committee on Appropriations in August 2024 and the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability in September 2024 onwards.[9][10] After the December 2022 withdrawal, Acosta would further withdraw the same amount of CIF three more times in the first three quarters of 2023 through Landbank, retrieving a total of ₱500 million in confidential funds for the OVP.[5] By August 2024, COA issued a notice of disallowance for ₱73.2 million of the initial ₱125 million CIF that Acosta withdrew in 2022 due to a lack of proper documentation justifying its use, directing her and OVP chief accountant Julieta Villadelrey to settle the liability within six months.[11]

On November 5, 2024, Acosta and six other OVP staff released a position paper asking the House Committee on Good Government to terminate its inquiry into their office's fund use, claiming that its hearings are "not in aid of legislation" and "violative of the rights of resource persons."[12] Upon the committee's fifth budget hearing on November 11, Acosta and three other staff members of the OVP were cited in contempt for failing to attend their legislative inquiries, and were thus issued an arrest order for their detention at the House of Representatives.[13][14][15]

Despite the arrest order, Acosta did not appear at the next hearing on November 20; OVP assistant chief of staff Lemuel G. Ortonio alleged that Acosta was "on the verge of a major emotional breakdown[...] and contemplating self-harm" the night before the hearing due to stress regarding her situation.[1] Although she was absent from the November 20 hearing, the matter regarding her quarterly withdrawal and disbursement of confidential funds from 2022 to 2023 was covered by committee members and interpellated to the OVP staff present.[7] Acosta's method of withdrawing confidential funds using duffel bags and without an armored vehicle was revealed at the hearing, and later criticized on X by former senator Leila de Lima, who likened its optics to a bank robbery and considered it "the essence of the OVP and DepEd's misuse of confidential funds."[16]

Acosta started attending the budget hearings on November 25, where she began being interpellated past 4 p.m. by Rep. Gerville Luistro of Batangas's 2nd district.[17] During the hearing, Acosta revealed that the confidential funds she withdrew from Land Bank were disbursed directly to Col. Raymund D. Lachica, chief of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group (VPSPG), to handle further disbursement of the CIF as ordered by vice president Duterte, which Luistro asserted was a usurpation of authority prohibited under her designation as SDO.[18][19] Acosta further testified that the accomplishment reports she prepared on the OVP's usage of the CIF were based mainly on the acknowledgment receipts (AR) and documents provided by Lachica.[20] While Luistro was still interpellating her sometime past 6 p.m., Acosta fell ill from hypertension during a temporary suspension and was placed on a wheelchair to be moved to an ambulance accompanied by Duterte.[17][21][22] She was soon sent to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center to undergo checkup.[23]

References

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  1. ^ a b House of Representatives (November 25, 2024). COMMITTEE ON GOOD GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY (NOVEMBER 25, 2024). YouTube (in Filipino and English). Google LLC. Event occurs at 9:25:50, 5:35:05. Retrieved November 26, 2024. On the day of the hearing [November 20], I [Lemuel Ortonio] was fully prepared to participate and present myself before the committee[...] However, the night before the hearing, I received a call from one of my colleagues who also had a summon...
  2. ^ Flores, Dominique Nicole (November 11, 2024). "VP Sara Duterte's long-time staff oversee OVP confidential funds". Philstar.com. Manila, Philippines: Philstar Global Corp. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  3. ^ "Who We Are". Davao City Budget Office. Archived from the original on January 25, 2022.
  4. ^ House of Representatives (November 20, 2024). COMMITTEE ON GOOD GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY (NOVEMBER 20, 2024). YouTube (in Filipino and English). Google LLC. Event occurs at 3:57:08. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Flores, Dominique Nicole (November 20, 2024). "OVP, DepEd confidential funds stashed in duffel bags, says bank officials". Philstar.com. Manila, Philippines: Philstar Global Corp. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  6. ^ Oliquino, Edjen (November 21, 2024). "Sara's aide draws ire of lawmakers". Daily Tribune. Concept and Information Group, Inc. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Andrade, Jeannette I. (November 21, 2024). "House probe retraces bulk withdrawals of confidential funds". Inquirer News. INQUIRER.net. Retrieved November 21, 2024. In the sixth hearing conducted[...], lawmakers tried to piece together where the OVP's special disbursing officer (SDO), Gina Acosta, could have possibly kept P125 million in confidential funds out of the check she cashed every quarter with a Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) branch on Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City.
  8. ^ Crisostomo, Sheila (September 26, 2023). "OVP spent P125 million confidential funds in 11 days". Philstar.com. Philstar Global Corp. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  9. ^ Gulla, Vivienne (August 27, 2024). "'Bakit mo ako kinu-crucify?' Sara Duterte spars with House members as budget hearing turns personal". ABS-CBN News. Manila: ABS-CBN Corporation. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  10. ^ Cervantes, Filane Mikee (September 25, 2024). "House inquiry on OVP's budget use about accountability, not politics". Manila. PNA. Retrieved November 21, 2024. Meanwhile, the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability has issued a show cause order to five OVP officials for skipping a congressional inquiry into the use of public funds. The OVP officials are[...] special disbursing officer Gina Acosta...
  11. ^ Ki, Czarina Nicole Ong (August 27, 2024). "COA issues P73.2-M notice of disallowance on VP Sara's P125-M confi, intel funds for 2022". Manila Bulletin. Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  12. ^ Ombay, Giselle (November 5, 2024). "OVP officials skip House budget use probe anew". GMA News Online. GMA Network Inc. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  13. ^ Flores, Dominique Nicole (November 11, 2024). "Four OVP officials cited in contempt, ordered arrested". Philstar.com. Manila, Philippines: Philstar Global Corp. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
  14. ^ Panti, Llanesca T. (September 25, 2024). "Ex-DepEd official: Sara Duterte showered subordinates with money". GMA News Online. GMA Network Inc. Retrieved November 21, 2024. [T]he House good government and public accountability panel also issued show cause orders to the following OVP officials who skipped Wednesday's probe without an explanation: [...] Special Disbursement Officer Gina Acosta
  15. ^ De Leon, Dwight (October 17, 2024). "VP Sara Duterte's staff snub House inquiry, say hearing 'unnecessary'". Rappler. Manila, Philippines: Rappler Inc. Retrieved November 21, 2024. Their absence prompted the good government committee to subpoena six individuals, compelling them to attend the next hearing.
  16. ^ "Garapalan sa withdrawal – De Lima 'OVP intel fund, galawang bank robbery'" [Shamelessness in the withdrawal – De Lima 'OVP intel fund with bank robbery moves']. Abante (in Filipino and English). Prage Management Corporation. November 21, 2024. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  17. ^ a b Javier, Paige (November 25, 2024). "Another OVP official rushed to hospital from House panel probe". ABS-CBN News (in Filipino and English). ABS-CBN Corporation. Retrieved November 26, 2024. In the same hearing, Vice President Sara Duterte asked the House panel to temporarily suspend the session to give Acosta some "air." Past six in the evening, Acosta was seen being attended to by medical personnel.
  18. ^ Magsambol, Bonz (November 25, 2024). "How OVP, DepEd disbursing officers violated rule on confidential funds". Rappler. Manila, Philippines: Rappler Inc. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  19. ^ Lalu, Gabriel Pabico (November 26, 2024). "OVP exec: I left secret funds to security head as per VP Sara's order". Inquirer News. Manila, Philippines: INQUIRER.net. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
  20. ^ Flores, Dominique Nicole (November 25, 2024). "DepEd, OVP disbursing officers: 'Security officers' handled confidential funds". Philstar.com. Manila, Philippines: Philstar Global Corp. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  21. ^ Panti, Llanesca T. (November 25, 2024). "Sara Duterte staff member falls ill amid House inquiry on confi fund use". GMA News Online. GMA Network Inc. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  22. ^ "OVP disbursing officer Gina Acosta was rushed to the hospital after her blood pressure spiked to 150/100". Rappler via Facebook. Meta Platforms Inc. November 25, 2024. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  23. ^ Manahan, Job (November 26, 2024). "House panel grants furlough to 4 OVP-linked individuals tagged in confidential funds". ABS-CBN News. Manila: ABS-CBN Corporation. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
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