A dismissed police corporal’s sworn account of suitcases stuffed with cash has pulled Vice President Sara Duterte and Malacañang into another round of public sparring, with the Palace saying a flat denial is not enough.
Rodulfo Gracioso Jr. first made the allegations in an exclusive interview with GMA News. He claimed to have headed the security detail of former Speaker Lord Allan Velasco from 2018, when Velasco was still a congressman, through his speakership from 2020 to 2022. In an affidavit filed with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Gracioso said he brought Duterte suitcases holding P20 million to P50 million each on more than 20 occasions, in Metro Manila, Davao, and elsewhere. He put the total at more than P2 billion and said Velasco ordered the runs. He also alleged cash deliveries to her father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, whom he said received money at Malacañang from 2018 to 2022, and to her brother, Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte, to whom he said he handed P100 million. The NBI is looking into the claims.
Duterte rejected the story in a statement on Saturday, September 26, 2026. “I do not know Rodulfo Gracioso Jr., nor have I ever received any money from him,” she said. Her lawyers, she added, are waiting for the NBI to release an official copy of the affidavit so they can begin preparing cases against Gracioso. She called his account “another media stunt, an attempt to breathe life into a faltering impeachment case.”
She also turned her fire on the administration. “The desperation of the administration to bring me down, push for Charter Change, prevent the 2028 elections, and cling to power is becoming increasingly diabolical,” Duterte said.
Palace Press Officer and Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro fired back the same day in a Viber message to reporters. She said the Vice President should learn to answer the accusations against her with evidence, and do so before lecturing others. Castro also told Duterte to study the definitions of red herring and ad hominem so she could spot the weaknesses in her own reasoning.
“She needs to level up her defending skills so she can appear credible, if only for once,” Castro said.
It was not the first time Castro had used the phrase. In May 2025, she urged Duterte to “level up” her arguments against the Marcos administration with reason and data instead of dismissing issues as politics.
Castro also brushed aside the suggestion that the administration was steering the impeachment proceedings, according to Philstar.com, noting that the Senate holds its own mandate and that trying an impeachment case falls squarely under its jurisdiction.
Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Adiong, spokesperson for the House prosecution panel, said the claims deserve serious attention and that the NBI appeared to be acting on them. He added that the allegations could tie in with the unexplained wealth charge included in the articles of impeachment.
Velasco’s camp has rejected Gracioso’s account as well. Rowell Ilagan, Velasco’s lawyer, dismissed the allegations as “fabricated attacks” with “no basis” and maintained that the former Speaker’s record in government remains free of corruption, The Manila Times reported.
