Atty. Salvador Paolo Panelo, son of former presidential legal counsel Atty. Salvador Panelo, described the allegations of Ramil Madriaga—the self-proclaimed "bagman" of Vice President Sara Duterte—as a cover-up for corruption of the current administration.

"It looks and smells like a cover-up, but it actually does the opposite," Panelo told DAILY TRIBUNE in an interview.

Madriaga has accused Duterte and her close circle of receiving drug and Philippine Overseas Gaming Operators (POGO) money through covert cash deliveries spanning several years and two administrations.

Panelo believes that the allegations against the Vice President are politically motivated.

"It exposes the complainants’ purely political agenda, as they spare the persons responsible for the 'most corrupt budget in history' from their outrage and demands for accountability," Panelo said.

Panelo also believes that this is part of the demolition operations against the Vice President as she remains the top contenter for the 2028 presidential elections.

"This is obviously a demolition job. They know they can’t beat Vice President Sara at the polls, so they’re resorting to desperate measures to eliminate her before then," Panelo said.

"Filipinos can discern true public servants from pretenders. As with past demolition jobs against her family, this will only galvanize support for Vice President Sara Duterte," he added.

For his part, former presidential legal counsel Atty. Salvador Panelo said the political adversaries of Vice President Duterte will not succeed in bringing her down because the people will not be easily convinced by lies and baseless allegations.

"No matter how sinister and vindictive the plan of the current administration to oust and obliterate Vice President Sara from the 2026 presidential race, the people can see through the political retribution its enemies and shall get its comeuppance when the time of reckoning comes," the elder Panelo said in a statement.

"It will not succeed, as in its previous attempts to besmirch the character and reputation of Inday Sara. Like its failed governance, it will receive the people's wrath," the former presidential legal counsel added.

In a notarized affidavit dated 29 November 2025, Madriaga claimed he saw how money from POGO and drug-linked financiers was funneled to groups supporting Duterte’s political rise.

Among the groups, the affidavit said, included ISIP Pilipinas, a campaign organization Madriaga formed in 2020 in anticipation of Duterte’s presidential bid.

Madriaga also claimed he saw the pickup of bags filled with cash at The Gate in Pampanga, Vertis North and Seda Hotel in Quezon City, and the Grand Hyatt in Bonifacio Global City. 

He said that in December 2022, he received orders from Col. Dennis Nolasco and Col. Raymund Dante Lachica, both of the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group, to distribute duffel bags containing between P33 million and P35 million each.

One delivery was allegedly made in Cabuyao, Laguna. Another occurred at a comedy bar in Quezon City, where Madriaga said he saw Vice President Duterte’s spokesperson, Reynold Munsayac, motioning for him to leave the money in an office. 

third delivery allegedly involved leaving a cash-filled vehicle at the Office of the Ombudsman parking lot and depositing the keys in a designated location.

He said he later delivered a white Toyota Vios loaded with P80 million to SM Megamall. 

According to Madriaga, he later saw the same vehicle being driven by Rhea Quilala, said to be the wife of Ombudsman prosecutor Ryan Rey Quilala and reportedly a former classmate of Sara Duterte at the San Sebastian College of Law.

Madriaga also said that in early 2020, he transported a Toyota Super Grandia containing P1 billion to two men waiting near Katarungan Village in Muntinlupa City. 

He claimed the delivery was later confirmed through a phone call from then President Rodrigo Duterte.

Madriaga further alleged that in January 2022, Sara Duterte instructed him via phone to retrieve a Honda Civic containing cash from a Kislap warehouse and deliver it to the Santiago family residence in Jordan Plains, Novaliches

Duterte has yet to issue a statement on the allegations against her.