ADMINISTRATION lawmakers yesterday offered a P1 million reward for information on “Mary Grace Piattos,” a name that has appeared 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.
Zambales Rep. Jeffrey Khonghun said members of the House Committee on Good Governance and Public Accountability have decided to pool funds to offer the reward to flush out Piattos, if she, indeed, is a real person.
“So, nag-usap-usap kami, boluntaryo, na magbibigay kami ng pabuya na P1 milyon sa kung sinumang makakapagsabi o makakapagbigay ng impormasyon kung sino si Mary Grace Piattos (So we spoke to each other and agreed to give a P1 million reward to anyone who can say or give information about who Mary Grace Piattos is),” he told a press conference.
Congressmen and netizens have questioned the existence of Piattos, saying she could be a made-up figure whose first name – Mary Grace – could have been taken from the name of a popular cafe diner, while the surname Piattos is a known local potato chips snack brand.
Other suspected fictitious names have also appeared as signatories in the 158 acknowledgment receipts that were attached to the liquidation reports submitted by the OVP to the COA to liquidate the P125 million confidential funds that were allegedly spent in just 11 days by the OVP in 2022.
The names include Fernando Tempura, Carlos Miguel Oishi, Reymunda Jane Nova, and a Chippy McDonald – names which congressmen said were obviously taken from local snack brands.
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.
Khonghun said Piattos received the largest share of confidential funds disbursed by the OVP in December 2022.
“Si Mary Grace Piattos kasi ‘yung may pinakamalaking nakuha dun e (Mary Grace got the largest amount),” Khonghun said. “We want to set an example, we want to know the truth. Kasi (Because) it follows na ‘pag wala si Mary Grace Piattos, sigurado halos lahat ng tao na nandun is fictitious na (that if Mary Grace Piattos is not a real person, then we’re sure that all the other names there are fictitious).”
Khonghun said the P125 million was spent quicker than the pork barrel funds in the scam involving businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, which took at least 60 days.
He said the Vice President cannot just dismiss the questionable acknowledgement receipts as fabricated because these were submitted by the OVP to the COA, which furnished copies to the panel chaired by Manila Rep. Joel Chua.
ARREST
Khonghun said the Chua panel will order the arrest of Zuleika Lopez, chief of staff of the Vice President, if she will disregard the panel’s summons for tomorrow’s hearing.
The Young Guns bloc leader said the committee has received information that Lopez has already returned from the United States, where she attended to her aunt’s health emergency.
“Ang balita ng komite is dumating na siya. So ine-expect natin sa Wednesday a-attend na siya dahil nga nakatanggap na siya ng subpoena (The information that we got is that she has returned to the country. So, we respect her to attend on Wednesday because she has received the subpoena),” Khonghun said.
Last week, the good government panel cited in contempt four OVP officials who snubbed its hearing even after being subpoenaed but spared Lopez after she wrote the panel to explain her absence.
The four who were cited in contempt and ordered arrested were OVP assistant chief of staff and Bids and Awards Committee chair Lemuel Ortonio, special disbursing Officer (SDO) Gina Acosta, former Department of Education (DepEd) Assistant Secretary Sunshine Charry Fajarda and SDO Edward Fajarda, who transferred to the OVP after Duterte resigned as education secretary last July.
The Vice President has said three of the four OVP officials who were cited in contempt failed to attend the hearings because of activities supposedly related to the OVP’s 89th anniversary.
OVP administrative and financial services Director Rosalynne Sanchez and Chief Accountant Julieta Villadelrey and budget division chief administrative officer Kelvin Gerome Teñido attended the hearing, but said they were not privy to the disbursement of the confidential funds.
NO TO AUGMENTATION
In a related development, the Young Guns lawmakers rejected the proposal of Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian to augment the House-approved P733 million budget of the OVP for 2025.
The Senate earlier adopted the House’s decision to slash the OVP’s P2.03 billion proposed budget for 2025 by P1.3 billion, citing the lack of supporting documents from Duterte’s office.
Over the weekend, Gatchalian said there are ongoing talks among senators to give additional funding for the OVP because of the high demand for public assistance, which the House earlier cited as a reason for the budget cut since it is a duplication of the functions of executive departments and agencies, especially the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega V said that after deferring to Congress on how much allocation it will get next year, the OVP seems to be pushing for an increase now.
“Parang paiba-iba ‘yung statements (It seems that the OVP is flip-flopping on its statements). Before they (OVP) told the House na bahala na po ang House of Representatives saka Senate kumbaga doon sa hatol sa budget nila, pero ngayon parang nag-iiba ‘yung statement (that it’s up to the House of Representatives and the Senate to decide on their budget but now, it seems to be changing that statement),” he said.
Ortega emphasized that regional offices of agencies, like the DSWD and the Department of Health (DOH), are already well-positioned to provide the assistance that the OVP claims the additional funds would address.
The lawmaker representing La Union’s first district insisted that the OVP failed to adequately present its programs during the House budget hearings, undermining its credibility.
Khonghun echoed Ortega’s skepticism, calling for “greater accountability before any additional funding is considered” and cited the lack of transparency surrounding the OVP’s use of confidential funds.
“Ayaw na natin magkaroon ng iba pang Mary Grace Piattos at Chippy McDonald sa mga liquidation report at mga acknowledgment receipt (We don’t want more Mary Grace Piattoses and Chippy McDonalds in liquidation reports and acknowledgment receipts),” he said.
Khonghun said it is also the Vice President’s fault that 200 OVP employees are at risk of losing their jobs because she refused to defend her office’s P2 billion proposed budget during the House deliberations.
“Responsibility niya ‘yun dahil kung humarap siya sa Congress at ipinagtanggol niya ‘yung budget niya at jinustify niya ‘yung budget niya, hindi mawawalan ng trabaho ‘yung mga tao ngayon. So, it’s her responsibility. Bakit niya ipapasa sa Kongreso (That’s her responsibility because if she only came her and defended and justified her office’s proposed budget for next year, these people will not lose their jobs. Why is she passing the blame to Congress)”” he said.