August 25, 2026

Lemuel G. Ortoño, Assistant Secretary and Assistant Chief of Staff of the Office of the Vice President, testified that he signed four Land Bank checks and accompanied special disbursing officer Gina F. Acosta when they were encashed. He also helped prepare OVP audit replies, but lacked personal knowledge of the actual spending and submitted sealed protective-intelligence reports without reading them.

The first liquidation report reflected ₱125 million spent by December 31, 2022, and Ortoño said the period from December 21 through December 31 was 11 days. He also agreed that the first three accomplishment reports used the same six categories and ₱125 million totals, but could not say that a later missing medical-and-food-aid amount had been redistributed because he did not prepare the report.

Ortoño said the medical-and-food-aid support he saw consisted of acknowledgement receipts rather than official receipts. He also testified that Gina F. Acosta requested a ₱150,000 emergency advance relayed by Colonel Raymond Dante Lachica, that he was never reimbursed, and that the advance did not appear in OVP records.

In response to reformulated closing questions from Presiding Officer Sen. Francis "Chiz" G. Escudero, Ortoño said that, based on his understanding and knowledge, Vice President Sara Zimmerman Duterte knew about the confidential activities and their implementation and that his own fund-related actions were not unknown to or unauthorized by her; he lacked personal knowledge about Gina F. Acosta's or Colonel Raymond Dante Lachica's actions.

The court declared Ortoño a hostile witness because of his continuing coterminous service under Vice President Sara Zimmerman Duterte, the respondent, and permitted leading, but not misleading, questions.

Direct examination moved through the confidential-fund request and plans, disbursement vouchers and checks, liquidation and accomplishment reports, audit memoranda, OVP replies, certifications, and protective-intelligence reports.

The prosecution completed direct examination near the end of the sitting; defense cross-examination had not begun.

The court set cross-examination, any redirect and recross, and senator-judge interventions for August 26, then adjourned the trial to 10:00 a.m. that day.

The prosecution argued that the OVP requested confidential funds before preparing the supporting physical and financial plan; Ortoño answered that the August 22 request had no attachments and the plan shown to him was prepared later.

The prosecution argued that OVP records contained recurring totals, sparse operational detail, and different explanations for the same confidential fund; these remained advocacy propositions rather than court findings.

The prosecution emphasized that Ortoño signed OVP audit replies as an organizational representative even though he disclaimed personal knowledge of the actual spending.

The defense characterized the prosecution's eleven-part offer as unproved conclusions, speculation, theories, and advocacy that it intended to test on cross-examination.

The defense stipulated to limited employment facts and specified documents, but not to the prosecution's ultimate inferences about what those documents proved.

The defense repeatedly objected that Ortoño was being asked to interpret records he did not prepare; Presiding Officer Sen. Francis "Chiz" G. Escudero acknowledged that limitation and said the documents spoke for themselves.

The court declared Ortoño hostile based on his continuing coterminous service and adverse interest, allowing leading but not misleading questions; this governed the examination method and did not adopt the prosecution's proposed conclusions.

Presiding Officer Sen. Francis "Chiz" G. Escudero sustained the defense objection to questioning about Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group salaries as irrelevant to the particular confidential-fund question and directed the prosecution to move on.

Presiding Officer Sen. Francis "Chiz" G. Escudero sustained an objection to an argumentative question and said the witness's preceding answer stood.

Presiding Officer Sen. Francis "Chiz" G. Escudero sustained objections to inflammatory characterizations, struck the challenged language, and reformulated the closing inquiry in terms of knowledge, authorization, and supervision.

Presiding Officer Sen. Francis "Chiz" G. Escudero retained the general arrangement that following-week witnesses should be announced on the preceding Wednesday, subject to unusual circumstances and adequate preparation time, and directed both sides to provide proposed stipulations at least one day before presenting a witness.

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano supported Presiding Officer Sen. Francis "Chiz" G. Escudero's control of inflammatory labels and urged the parties and senator-judges to choose words carefully because charged labels can shape public perception even after being withdrawn or stricken.

Sen. Juan Miguel “Migz” F. Zubiri asked how the impeachment calendar would fit with budget and legislative work and whether proceedings might extend beyond the December break; Presiding Officer Sen. Francis "Chiz" G. Escudero expressed only a tentative hope of finishing before year-end, with scheduling dependent on the budget calendar.

On the limits of his knowledge, Ortoño said: “Unfortunately, ma'am, I was not able to read the reports, ma'am, because these are sealed already, ma'am. I submitted the documents only, ma'am, to the COA.”

Asked about the Vice President's knowledge, Ortoño answered: “Based on my understanding, sir, and based on what I know, sir, yes, the Vice President knows about the confidential activities and how it is being implemented.”

Defense cross-examination had not begun; possible redirect, recross, and senator-judge interventions also remained for August 26.

The court had not ruled on defense counsel Sheila C. Sison's August 12 manifestation and scheduled that ruling after a short explanation by Atty. Amando Virgil D. Ligutan the next morning.

The clerk's comparison of acknowledgement receipts was not stated in the transcript; the court directed that the findings be furnished to the parties and senator-judges.