PSA: No ‘Mary Grace Piattos’ in our records

There is no record in its database of a Mary Grace Piattos, one of those who supposedly received a large portion of the confidential

funds from Vice President Sara Duterte’s office in 2022, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said yesterday.

In a document submitted to the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, the PSA said Piattos had a “negative record of birth,” as well of marriage or death.

It stated, however, that a further search could be conducted if additional information, such as the names of her parents and the date and place of her birth, could be provided.

The committee sought the PSA’s assistance in verifying the existence of Piattos amid speculation the name was derived from a popular local café and a brand of potato chips.

Piattos was one of the thousands of alleged recipients of Duterte’s P125-million confidential fund who supposedly signed an acknowledgment receipt dated 30 December 2022. The amount she was supposed to have obtained, however, has yet to be disclosed.

House lawmakers deemed the ARs “highly suspicious,” citing irregularities in the documents, including identical signatures, ink, and incorrect dates; while some ARs were unsigned, some had names missing, and many bore “spurious” names, such as Piattos.

They believed the ARs were likely fabricated as they were hastily submitted to the Commission on Audit. The House panel has offered a P1-million reward for anyone who could lead them to Piattos.

In a hearing in late November, Duterte’s special disbursing officer Gina Acosta, who is from Davao City, claimed there were people with the surname “Piattos” in the city where the Vice President once served as mayor.

The P125 million was spent by Duterte’s office in merely 11 days in December 2022. Of the sum, P73.287 million was disallowed by the CoA due to the lack of “documents evidencing the success of information gathering and/or surveillance activities” for which the funds were allegedly used.

Duterte has repeatedly denied misusing the funds, calling the House probe a “well funded” and “coordinated political attack” aimed at discrediting and impeaching her.

She likewise claimed she had not seen the ARs where the name “Mary Grace Piattos” appeared.

The P125 million in confidential funds was part of the P221.42-million contingent fund from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s office that was redirected to Vice President Duterte’s office.

Opposition lawmakers insinuated the transfer was unconstitutional since there was no line item for it in the 2022 General Appropriations Act.