THE Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has informed the House Committee on Good Government that Mary Grace Piattos, one of the names appearing in many acknowledgment receipts submitted by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) to the Commission on Audit (COA) as liquidation documents for Vice President Sara Duterte’s confidential funds – does not exist.
In a certification dated November 25, 2024 submitted to the panel, the PSA said any search for Mary Grace Piattos in its Civil Registry System (CRS) database on the Certificate of Live Birth (COLB), Certificate of Marriage (COM), and Certificate of Death (COD) yielded a “negative” response.
“However, if additional information such as the name of parents of the subject, date and place of the vital event can be provided, we can search further and be able to ascertain whether the civil registry document is available in the database,” the PSA said.
The certification, which was received last Monday afternoon by the office of Manila Rep. Joel Chua, chairperson of the House Committee on Good Government, confirmed the suspicions of lawmakers that the name was made up.
Administration lawmakers earlier pooled funds and offered a P1 million reward to flush out if Piattos is indeed a real person.
“Kaya pala walang nag-claim ng P1 million reward kasi peke talaga (That’s why no one claimed the P1 million reward because the name was really fake),” said Zambales Rep. Jefferson Khonghun.
“Nakakabahala na umabot tayo sa ganitong level ng kasinungalingan. Sa mga opisyal ng gobyerno na dapat nagbibigay ng tamang impormasyon, imbento lang pala ang Mary Grace Piattos (It’s worrisome that the level of lying has reached this point. For people in the government who should be giving correct information, Mary Grace Piattos was just an invented name),” Khonghun said.
The name Piattos has been the subject of ridicule since the first name Mary Grace could have been taken from the name of a popular restaurant, while the surname Piattos is a known local potato chips snack brand.
Piattos’ name was among the names that appeared in the 158 acknowledgment receipts that were attached to the liquidation reports submitted by the OVP to the COA to liquidate the P125 million in confidential funds that it allegedly spent in just 11 days in 2022.
Out of the P125 million, the COA has disallowed P73 million and has asked the Vice President and two other officials to return to public coffers.
In the acknowledgement receipts, Piattos was supposed to have received several checks, of which one was for P70,000, one of the largest shares of confidential funds disbursed by the Office of the Vice President (OVP) in December 2022.
“Hindi lang ito simple na isyu ng pangalan; pinagmumulan ito ng mas malalim na problema sa transparency at accountability. Kung kaya nilang mag-imbento ng ganito, ano pa kaya ang mga nakatagong transaksyon? (This isn’t a simple issue of name; this is the root of the deeper problem about transparency and accountability. If they can fabricate names like this, what are the other transactions being kept?)” Konghun said.
Khonghun said the revelation speaks a lot about the kind of leadership and management the Vice President has, citing the responsibility of public officials to maintain integrity in their actions.
“Ang dapat ay tapat. Walang lugar para sa mga kwentong imbento, lalo na sa isang tanggapang pinopondohan ng buwis ng taongbayan (Honesty is a must. There should be no room for fabricated stories, especially in a publicly funded office),” he said.
‘LARGER SCHEME’
Bataan Rep. Geraldine Roman said the discovery of the fake identity could mean that there is a larger scheme of falsifying OVP financial records.
“In effect, that certification means Mary Grace Piattos does not exist and has serious implications,” Roman told a press conference. “Kung walang Mary Grace Piattos, lahat ng dokumentong pinirmahan ni Mary Grace Piattos ay huwad at hindi makatotohanan (If there’s no Mary Grace Piattos, all documents signed by Mary Grace Piattos are fake and false).”
Rep. Judge Acidre said the discovery of one falsified receipt raises questions about the authenticity of other financial records submitted by the OVP, saying it’s clear that taxpayers’ money was stolen using the fake name.
“Kung may nakita tayong mali sa isa, hindi malayong ganun din ‘yung iba. May Latin dictum ‘yun e — falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus (If we discovered that is one is wrong, it’s possible that other submissions are wrong, too. There’s a Latin dictum, falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus (false in one thing, false in everything),” he said.
In an ambush interview in Malacañang, Chua said they will ask the National Bureau of Investigations (NBI) to help verify the authenticity of the other names and signatures that appeared in the acknowledgment receipts submitted to COA
“So, definitely, that will be part of our committee report,” he said, adding: “Ang magiging next step namin, baka pati iyung iba ipapa-check na rin namin, ‘yung ibang mga names (Our next step will be to have the other names checked).”
Chua said they would ask the NBI to help check the signatures and verify if the other persons really exist such as one “Kokoy Villamin.”
“Tingnan natin kung ano yung magiging resulta (Let’s see what the results would be),” he said.
Other suspected fictitious names that appeared as signatories in the 158 acknowledgment receipts include Fernando Tempura, Carlos Miguel Oishi, Reymunda Jane Nova, and a Chippy McDonald.
ADMINISTRATIVE LIABILITY
AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla yesterday told a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo that the Armed Forces is conducting an investigation to determine the possible administrative liability of two senior military officers linked to the disbursement of confidential funds of the OVP and the Department of Education (DepEd).
“On our part in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, we’re looking at the merits of the case,” Padilla said.
“(We’re looking) in terms of administrative issues that we have to address. If there is, that’s when we will be acting accordingly,” she said.
Vice Presidential Security and Protection Group commander Col. Raymund Dante Lachina and his former deputy, Col. Dennis Nolasco, have been dragged into the mess. Nolasco is currently on schooling and no longer assigned with the VPSG.
The two were reportedly involved in the disbursement of confidential funds of the OVP and DepEd when Duterte was still the agency’s secretary.
Earlier reports said the disbursement of confidential funds is the responsibility of special disbursing officers, not security personnel.
“We are looking at the merits (of the case) to determine possible administrative cases that may be filed… It will be internal to the AFP,” said Padilla, adding that the military is cooperating with the House of Representatives.
which is conducting an inquiry on the use of confidential funds of the OVP and DepEd when Duterte was still its secretary.
DEATH THREAT
Asked if military has confirmed the supposed death threat on Duterte’s life, Padilla said: “As of this time, there is still no confirmation on that.”
Duterte has implied that the Marcos administration is out to kill her. She said this was the reason which prompted her to talk to someone to kill the President, his wife Liza, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez if she gets killed.
Duterte later said her statement about her plan to assassinate the President, his wife, and Romualdez was taken out of context.
Padilla said the military is looking into the alleged plot to kill the Vice President.
“We have specialized units to verify these things. Moving forward, we’ll be performing our mandate accordingly of protecting her with all of our troops and assets in terms of providing security for the Vice President,” said Padilla.
She deferred comment on the assassination plot against the President, saying the NBI is already investigating the threat made by the Vice President.
“Since there is an ongoing and open investigation, we would not comment on it so that we won’t preempt the ongoing investigation,” she said. – With Jocelyn Montemayor and Victor Reyes
