00:01OVP Officer Gina Acosta stonewall Senator Judges at Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment trial, prompting Sen. Rafi Tulfo to tell
00:09Acosta she is stupid.
00:11Witness Acosta admits there were no official receipts for the OVP's 2022 confidential expenses on food, medicines, and supplies.
00:20Fuel prices rise again starting Tuesday, August 25 as crude oil markets remain volatile.
00:25The DepEd postpones the nationwide active shooter drill originally set for Tuesday, August 25, citing advice from experts.
00:33And Filipina tennis star Alex Ayala climbs to world number 18 in WTA rankings, her highest so far.
00:47Senator Judges interrogate former OVP Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta as the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte continues
00:56Monday, August 24.
00:57She answers question after question by saying she merely handed over the OVP's confidential funds in 2022,
01:03the Chief Security Officer Raymond LaChica, who then implemented the programs the money was supposedly intended for.
01:10You gave P125 million pesos to Colonel LaChica, right?
01:13Right, Your Honor.
01:15Because she is the security officer, Vice President Sara Duterte, to implement confidential activities, Your Honor.
01:26Because she is the one who has access, Your Honor.
01:29Acosta admits she relied on documents and assurances from LaChica, and she herself had no personal knowledge of the transactions.
01:36As the Special Disbursing Officer at the time, Acosta was supposed to be accountable for the money.
01:41The prosecution bears even more unusual names of supposed informants paid with confidential funds,
01:46but Acosta refuses to admit irregularity.
01:49This leaves some of the Senator Judges exasperated.
01:52How would you consider yourself? Smart, average, or stupid?
01:57Nasa average lang mga pagkatao, Your Honor.
02:00Kasi sa isang normal na tao, kapag siya'y binigan, bilang isang SDO tulad sa inyo,
02:05ng listahang pangalan ng mga informants na bilat, pagong, at pusa, papalag ka, ano ba ito?
02:15Kernel, mukhang hindi atatama ito, bastusa na ito. Di po ba? Para sa normal na tao.
02:21Acosta then reiterates that she simply relied on LaChica.
02:24So for me, in this case, you're stupid in the name of blind loyalty.
02:28Meanwhile, the Senate, as the impeachment court, receives a medical certificate stating that
02:33former DepEd Special Disbursing Officer Edward Fajarda has suffered a stroke and cannot yet testify in the trial.
02:39Impeachment Court Presiding Officer Cheese Escudero then orders the Senate Medical Bureau
02:43to examine Fajarda and validate the findings.
02:47Former OVP Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta admits confidential expenses supposedly
02:53for food, medicines, and supplies in 2022 did not have official receipts.
02:57This involves 125 million pesos in confidential funds handled that year
03:02by the Office of the Vice President under Sara Duterte.
03:05Acosta says then-OVP Security Head Colonel Raymond LaChica only gave her acknowledgement receipts.
03:10She says LaChica was the one who made payments using the funds.
03:14Ano po yung napaka-confidential kung saan binili biogesic paracetamol?
03:25As I verify po ng mga acknowledgement receipts na binigay sa akin ni SO Officer
03:34Karnel LaChica, Karnel LaChica, na itanong ko po siya kasi may napansin po ako na
03:43ang iba walang date, walang name, may perma.
03:49Ang sagot naman sa akin ni SO Officer, Ma'am Gina, kung ano man ang binigay ko sa'yo
03:58ng mga dokumento, yun na yun. Kasi ang mga transaction o ang operation doon is very sensitive information.
04:12Sensitive information po, Ma'am Gina. At saka confidential po ito.
04:17Proceedings on Monday, August 24, showed more acknowledgement receipts bearing unusual names
04:22such as Antonio Pagong, Shane Ngit Ngit, and Timon Andrew Pusa.
04:27Acosta tells the impeachment court she did not witness the actual payments
04:30and she trusted LaChica, whose job it was to carry them out.
04:34In its direct examination of Acosta, the prosecution aimed to establish that the OVP
04:38violated rules when she, as the disbursing officer,
04:41delegated the actual dispensation of the funds to someone else.
04:46Fuel prices rise again starting Tuesday, August 25,
04:50extending another run of pump price increases as fuel markets remain volatile.
04:54The Department of Energy announces the following fuel price adjustments for the week of August 25-31.
05:00An increase of 1.08 per litre of gasoline, 2.31 per litre of diesel, and 95 centavos per litre
05:08of kerosene.
05:09This is on top of last week's increases which undid rollbacks from the previous week.
05:14Crude oil prices increase amid dimming chances of an agreement between the U.S. and Iran,
05:18which both still assert control over the Strait of Hormuz.
05:23The Department of Education postpones the nationwide active shooter drill
05:26originally set for Tuesday, August 25, in both public and private schools.
05:31This after medical advocacy groups warned about the activity's possible psychological impact on students.
05:37Last week, at least two students were killed in a shooting incident
05:40at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University's junior high school campus.
05:43Education Secretary Sonny Angara announced the drill suspension in an interview with DZMM Radio.
05:49He says the DEPED will take into account advice from experts in disaster preparedness,
05:54child protection, and psychosocial support.
05:56The agency is looking at the first week of September to push through with the exercise.
06:03Filipino tennis star Alex Ayala returns to the U.S. Open with a new career-high ranking
06:07as she rose to world number 18 in the latest WTA chart.
06:11This surpasses her previous career best, number 20, which she attained earlier this month
06:16after winning her first WTA Tour title at the Washington Open.
06:19Ayala also made strong runs at the Canadian Open where she made it to the round of 16
06:24and at the Cincinnati Open where she reached the round of 32.
06:27She heads into a busy U.S. Open campaign to further build on what is already a breakthrough season
06:32for the 21-year-old.
06:36And that's today's wrap.
06:37I'm JC Gutinga.
06:39Click the link below for the full story.
06:40For more updates, download the Rappler app.
Comments