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MANILA, Philippines — After revealing a new list of questionable names tied to alleged confidential fund recipients, a House leader said the investigation into Vice President Sara Duterte’s fund use will also verify individuals whose names appear in birth, marriage or death records.
House Deputy Majority Leader Paolo Ortega (La Union, 1st District) on Sunday, April 6, shared eight “celebrity-like” names found in acknowledgment receipts, such as “Honeylet,” “Fiona” and “Magellan.” He said these names do not match any records maintained by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
“Ang daming Fiona actually na names (There were actually a lot Fionas),” he said during a press conference on Monday, April 7.
While verifying recipients with “fictitious names” is important, Ortega said the House good government committee’s probe should also confirm whether those with matching PSA records truly received the confidential funds, as reflected in the signed receipts.
Some of the names resembled local chips, tech brands and grocery items. Other than the famous “Mary Grace Piattos,” there were also the likes of “Xiaome Ocho,” “Jay Kamote” and “Miggy Mango.”
“Maganda rin na tignan natin… ‘yung 600-plus na mayroon records kasi kailangan din natin siguro tignan kung nakatanggap nga ba sila o mayroon silang mga nakuha na pondo. Para hindi lang ‘yung mga walang pangalan,” Ortega said.
(It's also good to look at the 600-plus individuals with records because we also need to check if they really received any funds or if they were among those who got any money, not just those without names.)
They may also be invited to contribute to the investigation to clarify whether they received the confidential funds and how they were used, he added.
Nearly P300M spent for 'bogus' names
For the list of confidential fund recipients under the Office of the Vice President (OVP), the PSA found that around 670 out of 1,992 names “most likely matched” existing records.
Meanwhile, only about 200 of the 677 recipients listed under the Department of Education (DepEd) have records in the PSA’s database.
RELATED: No record of 60% of 677 alleged DepEd confidential fund recipients — PSA
The good government panel estimates that P254.8 million in confidential and intelligence funds were used to pay the no-record beneficiaries of the OVP, while P43.2 million was spent for the "fake" DepEd's recipients, amounting to a total of P298 million.
Under Duterte’s leadership, the OVP and DepEd spent P612.5 million in secret funds from 2022 to 2023.
Ortega said that Duterte “had all the chances to” ask for an executive session during the good government’s hearings to explain the questionable identities, but they only turned it into a spectacle.
Until now, he said, no proper response has been provided regarding the alleged recipients. Instead, Duterte has only expressed doubt on the House’s findings.
Ortega acknowledged that using code names for confidential operations on the ground is understandable.
However, he said it is also simple to follow the guidelines outlined in Joint Circular 2015-01, which require receipts to be securely stored and audited for verification by the Commission on Audit. In other words, there shouldn’t be any code names used for documentation.
“Sa impeachment [trial] na rin siguro magkakaroon ng mas klaro na kasagutan tungkol dito,” Ortega said. (Maybe the impeachment trial will provide a clearer answer about this.)
To disclose documents? Asked if the acknowledgment receipts with the recently disclosed names will be made public or used during the trial, Ortega believes it is important to present them, as they “will form a big part” of the prosecution’s argument in the second article of impeachment, which focuses solely on the alleged ghost recipients.
“Sa tingin ko kailangan nilang ilabas yon kasi malaking question mark po ito (I think they need to release that because this is a big question mark),” he said.
Ortega is not part of the prosecution team, but he is one of the lawmakers providing updates on the ongoing investigation into the confidential fund beneficiaries, with around 4,000 acknowledgment receipts still under review.
The House prosecutors who will be presenting and defending the second article of impeachment include Reps. Joel Chua (Manila, 3rd District), Gerville “JinkyBitrics” Luistro (Batangas, 2nd District), Romeo Acop (Antipolo, 2nd District), Raul Angelo “Jil” Bongalon (Ako Bicol Party-list) and Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez (1-Rider Party-list).
