Over 400 Sara intel fund recipients nonexistent — PSA

More than half of the 677 supposed recipients of millions of pesos in confidential funds from the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) during the tenure of Vice President Sara Duterte have no proof of their birth, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

In an interview on Monday, House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability chairperson Joel Chua said he received a copy of the PSA findings over the weekend, confirming that 405 of the individuals had no birth records in the agency’s database, while over 200 had matching names.

“Out of 677 [names] that we submitted, more than 400 yielded no birth records, while more than 200 had the same names,” he said.

Last week, Chua asked National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa to check the civil registry records of the 677 individuals listed as recipients of the confidential funds who supposedly signed the acknowledgment receipts (AR) the OVP and the DepEd submitted to the Commission on Audit (CoA).

The request was prompted by the initial finding of the PSA that a “Mary Grace Piattos,” one of the supposed recipients who received the biggest chunk of the secret funds from Duterte’s office in 2022, had no birth, marriage, or death records in the agency’s archives.

The name “Mary Grace Piattos” drew national attention due to its similarity to a popular local restaurant and a brand of potato chips, although Duterte’s special disbursing officer, Gina Acosta, said there were people in her hometown of Davao City, where the Vice President once served as mayor, with the surname.

Additionally, Assistant National Statistician Marizza Grande previously disclosed the agency was unable to find any record of a “Kokoy Villamin,” whose name also appeared in multiple ARs of both the OVP and DepEd, but the signatures were different.

Duterte headed the DepEd for nearly two years before resigning on 19 July.

The PSA’s findings further fueled lawmakers’ suspicions the ARs were likely fabricated and hastily submitted to the CoA to justify the spending of the confidential funds.

Under microscope

Duterte is under intense scrutiny amid allegations of irregularities in her use of P650 million in confidential funds, which were allegedly supported by fictitious ARs. The rigorous House probe resulted in two impeachment complaints being filed against the VP.

Duterte has repeatedly denied allegations of corruption and fund misuse, calling the House probe politically motivated and aimed at discrediting her ahead of the elections.

Previously, Deputy Majority Leader Jude Acidre and Bataan Rep. Geraldine Roman raised concerns that the alleged fake identities may only be the “tip of the iceberg,” and could signal a larger fraudulent scheme.

Deputy Majority Leader Paolo Ortega V, meanwhile, implied that it could point to systemic fraud.

Over the weekend, Chua announced that they are gearing up to conclude the investigation after seven grueling hearings, as they had already identified the supposed recipients of the funds. However, he noted that the committee could continue holding hearings involving fund concerns in the DepEd.