Artist disputes testimony linking painting to Madriaga, VP Duterte

A Davao-based artist has rejected claims made by alleged former aide Ramil Madriaga that he was the one who gave a painting to Vice President Sara Duterte.

“I gifted this painting to VP Sara when she was mayor of Davao City in 2021,” artist Tanya Gaisano Lee said in an Instagram story on Wednesday.

“Anything stated otherwise is false,” she added.

The clarification came after Madriaga told lawmakers during a House Committee on Justice hearing that he had given Duterte the painting, which he said was made by a scholar from Laguna and delivered through intermediaries.

“During our video conference, I noticed the painting I personally gave her as a gift,” Madriaga said, referring to an image presented during the proceedings.

He further claimed, “Nag-regalo po ako sa kanya ng isang painting na ginawa ng isang scholar ko sa Laguna… Pinagawa ko po ’yan.”

Lee, however, disputed this account, saying she is neither connected to any scholar in Laguna nor involved in the narrative presented by Madriaga.

“I am not a scholar. I am not from Laguna. I am from Davao,” she said.

The painting in question had earlier appeared in a 2021 social media post by Duterte.