MANILA, Philippines – Davao City Accountant Vingelin Bajan on Tuesday, November 10, testified that Vice President Sara Duterte received salary differentials worth over P64,000 from the Davao City government in 2023.
On Day 41 of the impeachment trial, Bajan presented a summary of Duterte’s differential payroll, showing the Vice President received salary differentials from the Davao City government in January 2023 amounting to P64,195. This was purportedly divided in two tranches: P31,718.64 in January to December 2020 and P32,476.08 in January to December 2021.
“This came from the salary differentials due to the passage of the Salary Standardization Law (SSL) in 2019 that has yearly increases in tranches,” Bajan told the impeachment court.
Duterte served her third and final term as Davao City mayor in 2019 before her election as vice president in June 2022.
Bajan said all government employees were entitled to the salary increases under the SSL, and explained that Duterte’s payment covered only the adjustments corresponding to her years as mayor. She also attributed the delayed release to “incomplete” supporting documents, which included the notice of salary adjustment (NOSA) and payroll register.
“The supporting documents were only completed in January 2023. We cannot release the differential if the supporting documents were incomplete,” Bajan said.
A Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) official previously testified that Duterte received compensation from the Davao City government in 2023, while already serving as vice president.
The prosecution argued that this violated the prohibition for double compensation under Article IX-B, Section 8 of the Constitution, stating that: “No elective or appointive public officer or employee from receiving additional, double, or indirect compensation, unless specifically authorized by law, nor accept without the consent of the Congress, any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind from any foreign government”.
“Pensions or gratuities shall not be considered as additional, double, or indirect compensation,” it added.
Senator-judge Raffy Tulfo, for his part, questioned Bajan’s explanation, and said the Davao LGU should have disbursed the salary differentials after Duterte’s term as vice president ends in 2028.
“As you know, VP Sara cannot receive double compensation while serving as Vice President. You should have waited after she ended her term in 2028, then, we will have no questions about this” said Tulfo.
“There are also erasures here. For all we know, you could have made these adjustments after finding out about the impeachment,” he added.
The House prosecution panel also challenged Bajan’s credibility, raising concerns about her personal ties to Duterte. Bajan entered the Davao city local government in 2001 as a job order employee. She became a permanent employee in 2004 and was appointed by Duterte as acting city accountant in 2016. In 2017, she became the city accountant.
Bajan, following a tedious cross-examination and repeated warnings of contempt from senator-judges over her “evasive” responses, admitted she had previously been a partner at Ampil, Elises, Ciudadano & Co. — now Elises & Ciudadano — the accounting firm that served as external auditor of Gencorp Industries Incorporated and Metro City Chow Foods Incorporated, both linked to Duterte.
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Bajan left the firm in 2015, a year before she served as acting Davao City accountant.
Duterte is facing impeachment proceedings under Article II of the Articles of Impeachment, which involves allegations of unexplained wealth, including allegedly undeclared assets and properties. – Rappler.com