COMMUNICATIONS Undersecretary and Palace press officer Claire Castro yesterday said Vice President Sara Duterte should take the lead in promoting transparency by coming clean and explaining the growing list of dubious names listed as recipients of her confidential funds.
“So, mas mabuti po, sinasabi naman po niya na dapat po tayo ay may transparency. Mas maganda po na mauna po siya na ipaliwanag po ito (So, it would be better, she said we should have transparency. So, it would be good if she explained it first),” Castro said.
She added: “We believe that VP Sara has the obligation to tell something about this, to tell something about these discoveries. Marami na po ang naglilipana patungkol sa mga pekeng resibo na diumanong na-issue po ng opisina po ni VP Sara (We believe that VP Sara has the obligation to explain to the public these discoveries. A lot has been said about fake receipts allegedly issued by the office of VP Sara).”
Castro was referring to the latest names bared by La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega V, such as “Amoy Liu,” “Fernan Amuy,” and “Joug de Asim,” who were among the supposed recipients of Duterte’s confidential funds when she was the secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd).
Ortega described the latest names as the “Team Amoy Asim.” The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) has certified that the three have no birth, marriage, or death records in its database.
The lawmaker has previously said that dubious names such as five Dodongs, “Jay Kamote,” “Miggy Mango,” “Mary Grace Piattos,” “Pia Piatos-Lim” and “Renan Piatos” were also listed as recipients of the confidential funds of the Office of the Vice President (OVP).
Ortega had previously said that out of the 1,992 supposed recipients of the confidential funds of the OVP, 1,322 have no birth records; 1,456 have no marriage records; and 1,593 have no death records.
