More 'bogus' recipients found: lawmakers say VP Sara's impeachment gains momentum

The discovery of additional “bogus” recipients of Vice President Sara Duterte’s confidential funds has further strengthened the impeachment case against her, increasing the likelihood of a conviction in the Senate, administration lawmakers said Friday.

A recent verification from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) revealed three new names — Pia Piatos-Lim, Renan Piatos, and Xiaome Ocho — joining the previously flagged Mary Grace Piattos, which House members believe to be clearly fictitious.

The PSA earlier confirmed that of the 1,992 individuals who allegedly received P500 million in confidential funds from the Office of the Vice President (OVP) in 2023, nearly two-thirds, or 1,322, have no proof of birth. Meanwhile, only 670 were found to have “most likely” matched identities in its database.

“It only shows that around 1,300 — the highest possibility — is that these are also fictitious names,” said Batangas Rep. Gerville Luistro, a member of the prosecution panel, in an interview.

She labeled it a “clear case of falsification of a document, making it appear that somebody received [a] certain amount of money when in fact these personalities [are] fictitious.”

La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega V argued that the irregularities in the transactions serve as solid evidence against Duterte in her looming Senate impeachment trial.

“It’s the same premise nung [kay] Mary Grace Piattos, ganon din kabilang sila, ‘yung pamilya Piattos, si Renan, si Pia Piatos at tsaka si Xiaome. They are in the same situation ng mga pangalan po na wala naman pagkatao,” Ortega said in a virtual press briefing.

Irregularities

Lawmakers have flagged the acknowledgment receipts (ARs) submitted by Duterte’s office to the Commission on Audit, citing multiple irregularities, including missing names and signatures, unreadable entries, and duplicate names. They suspect the ARs were fabricated or hastily prepared to justify the use of the multi-million-peso confidential funds.

Zambales Rep. Jefferson Khonghun called the use of bogus names an “abuse” of the confidential nature of the funds.

Meanwhile, Luistro asserted that Duterte’s camp cannot feign ignorance regarding the glaring discrepancies in the ARs. She emphasized that the OVP never claimed it deliberately used fictitious names in the documents and dismissed any alibi that this was done to protect the recipients’ identities.

“Why does the document not reflect the identity of these recipients? If the recipients are fictitious, it only showed that they falsified the acknowledgment receipts and the other supporting documents of the confidential funds of the OVP,” Luistro said.

She added, “We have a [Joint Memorandum Circular No. 2015-01]: place [the secret funds] in a sealed envelope, vault. What happened? Are we doing this for what? To protect the real identity of the people when in fact, the identities which are being used are fake already?”

Senate impeachment trial looms

On 5 February, the House of Representatives impeached Duterte with an overwhelming 215 lawmakers — more than double the required 102 votes — endorsing the articles of impeachment to the Senate.

The House outlined seven impeachable offenses against the Vice President, including her alleged plot against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez, as well as the purported misappropriation of P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to her office and the Department of Education during her tenure as secretary.

The Senate is expected to try Duterte after the 20th Congress convenes in late July, following the swearing-in of 12 newly elected senators.

A conviction requires a two-thirds majority, or at least 16 of the 24 senators. If convicted, Duterte will be permanently disqualified from holding any public office.

Pro-impeachment lawmakers have criticized the Senate for its supposed reluctance to immediately convene as an impeachment court, even as Congress is currently on a four-month break.