No birth records of over 1K who got OVP money
THE Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has certified that 1,322 individuals out of the 1,992 names listed as recipients of the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) P500 million confidential funds have no birth records.
Responding to the letter of the House Committee on Good Government which is looking into Vice President Sara Duterte’s alleged misuse of her confidential funds, the PSA identified only 670 names that “most likely matched” with its records.
The results were revealed in a December 11 letter of National Statistician and Civil Registrar General Undersecretary Claire Dennis Mapa which Manila Rep. Joel Chua, panel chairperson, disclosed yesterday.
In a statement, Chua said the latest PSA report further boosts suspicions that the 1,322 names were fabricated
“This certification from the PSA leaves little doubt – if these names cannot be found in the civil registry, it strongly suggests they do not exist. The ARs (acknowledgement receipts) may have been manufactured to justify the disbursement of confidential funds,” he said.
The names were found in acknowledgment receipts submitted by the OVP as liquidation documents to the Commission on Audit (COA) to justify the disbursement of hundreds of millions of its confidential funds from late 2022 to the third quarter of 2023.
Aside from the 1,322 who do not have birth certificates, the PSA
said that 1,456 lacked marriage records, with only 536 showing possible matches.
Similarly, it reported that 1,593 had no death records, while only 399 had corresponding entries.
“These findings raise a critical question: if the recipients don’t exist, where did the money go? This is not just a clerical error; this points to a deliberate effort to misuse public funds,” Chua said.
The PSA had previously certified it has no birth, marriage and death records of one Mary Grace Piattos and Kokoy Villamin who were also listed as recipients of confidential funds from the OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd) when Duterte was the education secretary.
Piattos has become the subject of ridicule after lawmakers noted that the name appears to have been taken from the name of a popular cafe diner, while the surname Piattos could have come from a known local potato chips snack brand.
Villamin’s name appeared in both the DepEd and OVP receipts for confidential funds although with different signatures.
Last week, the PSA also told the Chua panel that they do not have records of 405 out of the 677 names listed as beneficiaries of the DepEd’s P112.5 million confidential funds during Duterte’s term.
Out of the 677 names, the PSA has said that 405 had no birth records, 445 lacked marriage certificates, and 508 had no death certificates.
The PSA certifications have prompted lawmakers to conclude that the identities of the supposed recipients were faked.
The Chua panel last week wrapped up its inquiry into the use of confidential funds by the DepEd and the OVP, but it will resume next year to continue looking into other questionable disbursements, such as the DepEd’s procurement of laptops.
The fund misuse issue has been used by a group led by Akbayan party-list and another one led by the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) to file two separate impeachment complaints against the Vice President.
