Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Tuesday confirmed that Vice President Sara Duterte visited jailed former lawmaker Arnie Teves Jr., not self-proclaimed bagman Ramil Madriaga, at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) facility in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig, in October.

Remulla’s confirmation contradicted claims made by Madriaga that he was the detainee visited by the Vice President at the high-security facility.

“Pumunta siya doon pero kinausap niya si Arnie Teves, hindi si Madriaga,” Remulla said during a press conference on Tuesday, December 23.

“Wala daw pinagusapan masyado,” he added, referring to the nature of the visit.

Remulla said CCTV footage of Duterte’s visit to Teves exists and is in the custody of the jail warden, who was present during the meeting.

Last week, Madriaga’s lawyer Raymund Palad claimed in a press conference that Duterte visited Madriaga twice this year at the facility, allegedly offering assistance in dismissing his kidnapping case in exchange for dropping his exposé against her. Palad said the second visit, on October 19, did not push through after Madriaga refused to meet the Vice President.

Duterte on Monday denied Palad’s claims, saying she never had any personal relationship with Madriaga.

Teves, a former three-term congressman, is detained at Camp Bagong Diwa facing multiple murder charges, including his alleged role in the March 2023 killing of Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and 10 others. The Anti-Terrorism Council has designated him a terrorist. He was deported from Timor-Leste in May and transferred to BJMP custody in June.

Madriaga, meanwhile, is also detained at the same facility on kidnapping charges. Earlier this month, he submitted a sworn affidavit to the Office of the Ombudsman alleging that Duterte’s 2022 vice presidential campaign was funded by Philippine offshore gaming operators and drug dealers, and that he personally delivered duffel bags filled with cash on her orders.

He also claimed to have helped organize the “Inday Sara Duterte Is My President” movement in 2020 and later worked under senior officers in the Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group, allegedly transporting large sums of money from July 2022 to April 2023.