More ‘bogus’ OVP names unearthed

A House leader revealed Sunday that Vice President Sara Duterte’s office allegedly submitted acknowledgment receipts containing another set of questionable

names — dubbed “Team Grocery” — as beneficiaries of her P500 million confidential funds.

House Deputy Majority Leader Paolo Ortega V identified the purported fictitious names as “Beverly Claire Pampano,” “Mico Harina,” “Patty Ting,” “Ralph Josh Bacon” and “Sala Casim.”

He noted these names, like previously flagged recipients “Mary Grace Piattos” and “Jay Kamote,” show no birth, marriage or death records with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

“These new names we saw are like a grocery list,” Ortega said in Filipino, alleging the documents came from Duterte’s office and the Department of Education (DepEd), which she led for nearly two years.

Duterte has denied misusing P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to the Office of the Vice President (P500 million) and DepEd (P112.5 million) during 2022-2023. The House cited these alleged irregularities among the impeachment grounds against her on 5 February.

Lawmakers have questioned receipt authenticity, noting inconsistencies like incorrect dates and signatures without names. PSA verification showed: 1,322 of 1,992 OVP recipients lacked birth records; 1,456 had no marriage records; and 1,593 showed no death records

For DepEd funds, 405 of 677 listed beneficiaries had no birth records. Ortega called these patterns evidence of fabricated documentation submitted to the Commission on Audit.

The Senate will try Duterte after the 20th Congress convenes in July. Conviction requires 16 of 24 senators’ votes and would permanently disqualify her from office, potentially affecting her 2028 presidential ambitions.