Mary Grace Piattos: A Deus Ex Machina?

Members of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability were on to something when they offered a P1-million reward to anyone who could give information regarding Mary Grace Piattos.

The name, which appears among the beneficiaries in about 4,800 dubious ARs (acknowledgment receipts) submitted by the office of Vice President Sara Duterte to the Commission on Audit, has become a focal point of the investigation into the misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds of both the Department of Education and the Office of the Vice President over two years.

The ARs appear to be fake or spurious because they have similar patterns of handwriting, bear fictitious names and, more significantly, are not supported by invoices or official receipts.

When asked her reaction to the P1-million bounty, VP Sara’s response was curious: “I have no comment on that because I have not seen the acknowledgement receipts, they are talking about. Because basically, all the documents do not pass through me. They go straight to the SDO (senior disbursement officer) and are submitted to the ICFAO, the CoA office that audits confidential funds,” she said in English and Filipino.

“So I cannot comment, especially since we don’t know how the ARs were processed when they were submitted by the CoA to the House of Representatives, and who handled the documents,” she added.

For someone who had “no comment,” VP Sara sure revealed a lot. Her remarks declared to the public her legal defense narrative: (1) to deny knowledge and participation in the alleged fakery, and (2) to complicate the issue and involve financial protocols, technical auditing process, among other things.

By logical inference, these two statements seem to be congruent only when somebody is hiding something.

However, we cannot fault VP Sara if she wants to disassociate herself from Mary Grace Piattos. The name is fast becoming synonymous with alleged fraudulent practices in her office. According to sources who joined the UniTeam on the campaign trail, the name may have been inspired by the fondness of VP Sara for the cheese rolls of Mary Grace Cafe and Piattos potato chips.

With the appearance of “Mary Grace Piattos” in the House investigation, the burden of proof shifts to VP Sara and her camp to explain the absurdity and the implausibility of the liquidation documents submitted to the CoA.

In her autobiography, “Deus Ex Machina,” former President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo highlighted the role of symbolic events in shifting political narratives. She noted how the revelation of the second envelope’s contents — or more accurately its suppression — became the rallying cry of then President Estrada’s critics.

It wasn’t about the specifics of the evidence but the symbolic weight it carried: Proof of systemic corruption tied to a secretive and morally questionable act. The second envelope was the “deus ex machina” — an unexpected catalyst that irreparably damaged Estrada’s “man of the masses” image and turned his vaunted popular support to public outrage.

In this vein, Mary Grace Piattos may serve a similar symbolic function. To be sure, the ARs and liquidation documents are logically consistent with the OVP’s attempts to obscure and hide the actual use of the confidential funds.

Unexpectedly, “Mary Grace Piattos” has introduced a potent vulnerability to Inday Sara Duterte’s otherwise formidable position considering her possible impeachment. Impeachment, while a legal process, is ultimately a political endeavor — dependent not just on the evidence but also on public sentiment and shifting political alliances.

People are instantly reminded of Mary Grace Piattos’ parallelism to the “Jose Pidal” and “Jose Velarde” cases which also involved secretive dealings in public funds. These names became shorthand for the scandals, personalizing the issues and making them relatable to the public.

As the House investigation deepens, one question looms: will “Mary Grace Piattos” be the tipping point that will topple the Duterte dynasty? History has shown (and PGMA expounded) that it’s not just the evidence but the “deus ex machina” or the symbolism that seals political fates.