A House committee has reiterated its request for the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to confirm the identities of 1,992 individuals who reportedly received confidential funds from the Office of the Vice President (OVP) between December 2022 and September 2023.
In a letter dated December 9, House good government and public accountability panel chairperson and Manila Representative Joel Chua asked National Statistician Claire Dennis Mapa to verify the civil registry documents—such as birth, marriage, and death records—of the individuals listed as recipients. The request is part of an ongoing investigation into the liquidation of the OVP’s confidential funds.
The individuals in question were listed as signatories in acknowledgment receipts submitted by the OVP to the Commission on Audit (COA) to account for the funds. Chua highlighted that the lack of birth records for 405 individuals linked to the Department of Education (DepEd) during Vice President Sara Duterte’s tenure as secretary has already raised concerns.
“The absence of these records strengthens suspicions that some recipients might not exist, suggesting potential fabrication of receipts to justify confidential fund expenditures by the OVP and DepEd,” Chua stated in a GMA News report.
Among the questioned signatories is an individual identified as Mary Grace Piattos, whom the PSA previously confirmed had no civil registry documents under her name. Other irregularities in the receipts, such as illegible or missing signatories and erroneous dates, have also been flagged during the investigation.
The committee continues to scrutinize the liquidation process, citing discrepancies as grounds for further inquiry into the management of confidential funds under Vice President Duterte.
