Rodulfo Gracioso Jr. returned to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Monday, September 28, bringing photographs, videos and other materials he said would back his sworn claim that he carried suitcases of cash to Vice President Sara Duterte on the orders of former speaker Lord Allan Velasco.
The dismissed police officer arrived at the bureau’s Pasay City headquarters with Fr. Flaviano Villanueva, the Catholic priest and human rights activist, to clarify statements in his affidavit.
Pressed by reporters on how he could prove the deliveries, Gracioso said the evidence was already with the NBI.
“There are pictures and videos,” he said. When asked if the materials captured the handovers or the money itself, he answered: “Yes.”
He also showed reporters several photos that he said placed him alongside Duterte and Velasco. According to Gracioso, he first crossed paths with the Vice President in 2017, after he joined Velasco’s security team.
“I met Ma’am Sara when I became a security officer of sir Allan Velasco,” he said.
His own account puts him at the head of Velasco’s security from 2018, when Velasco represented Marinduque in Congress, through Velasco’s term as speaker from 2020 to 2022. Gracioso alleges that during that time, he delivered more than P2 billion in cash to Duterte and members of her family at Velasco’s direction.
Duterte has said she does not know Gracioso and never received money from him. Velasco’s camp has dismissed the allegations as fabricated. The NBI said it is going through the affidavit and the other evidence tied to the claims.
At Camp Crame on the same day, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. confirmed that Gracioso had worked for Velasco.
“Yes, he had been detailed as security or staff of former speaker Velasco,” Nartatez told reporters.
The PNP chief said official orders covered Gracioso’s security postings but could not immediately say for how long he held the assignment. He also stopped short of confirming whether Gracioso belonged to the Police Security and Protection Group.
Nartatez said Gracioso’s police career included both an administrative case and a related criminal case stemming from an incident in Calabarzon. The administrative case, which he traced to around 2021 or 2022, ended in Gracioso’s removal from the service, and Gracioso had already served a suspension before that.
The dismissal order, dated September 15 but effective September 11, cited three counts of grave misconduct. Gracioso said the dismissal caught him off guard, and he raised questions about how the proceedings against him were conducted.
Villanueva, who has known Gracioso since March, said he was able to check part of what the former policeman told him, including his ties to Velasco and Duterte.
“He showed some pictures and the first thing that I was able to establish is that they have a (professional) relationship,” the priest said, referring to Gracioso’s time as a security aide to the former speaker.
Speaking on One News’ “Storycon,” Villanueva said Gracioso appeared to have been pushed to come forward after he was unable to get help for his sick father, who died in 2024. The former policeman had reportedly sought P150,000, or at least a guarantee letter to cover hospital bills.
“This is not the first time that a truth-teller has landed on our doorstep,” Villanueva said. “I believe that he has his story straight and I pray that he remains true to this cause that he started.”
Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Gracioso’s claims would be checked before they are accepted as fact, and that the former policeman must go through the proper investigative process.
“We will take all of his statements with all seriousness to determine the truth,” Remulla said.
Whether Gracioso enters the Department of Justice’s Witness Protection Program, Remulla said, depends on how the DOJ assesses his credibility.
