Cash houses

Perhaps because Father Flavie Villanueva found him deserving of being heard, dismissed policeman Rodulfo Gracioso may face less skepticism about his story of grand thievery allegedly involving Vice President Sara Duterte and former House speaker Lord Allan Velasco.

In a lengthy affidavit submitted to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Gracioso narrated the millions in cash that he claims he himself counted before delivery to Duterte, allegedly from Velasco and his wife Rowena.

The cash in suitcases, boxes or bags, Gracioso alleged, often included packs of Inday Sara’s supposed favorite, delectable (and expensive) Royce chocolates, plus Hermes bags and a Patek Philippe wristwatch.

Reading the affidavit of Gracioso, who has been confirmed by the Philippine National Police to have been detailed as Velasco’s security officer, it’s dismaying to be confronted once again with the kleptocracy that has bedeviled our poor, plundered nation.

I say again, because we’ve fallen into these depths before, during the conjugal dictatorship in the first Marcos administration. Since we restored them to power, it’s not surprising that all the ills are back.

The accusations hurled by Gracioso against the VP, who won her post in tandem with Ferdinand Marcos Jr., have a familiar refrain. We heard similar accusations from several former bodyguards, mostly ex-Marines, of MIA ex-Ako Bicol congressman Zaldy Co. But those accusations were directed at BBM’s once-favorite cousin Martin Romualdez.

Several of those accusers have since retracted their statements. Co, who released videos with damning accusations against Romualdez, BBM and his son Sandro, have also intriguingly gone silent while enjoying a prolonged European vacation.

Father Flavie told “Storycon” on One News last Monday that Gracioso had approached him and asked for advice and spiritual solace.

The priest, a Ramon Magsaysay awardee who had previously helped whistleblowers against Rodrigo Duterte, told us that he thought Gracioso’s story deserved to be made public.

Father Flavie said it would be up to authorities to verify the details of the story, which Gracioso said he revealed partly out of resentment after Velasco allegedly begrudged him P150,000 to pay for the hospital fees of the policeman’s father, who died in 2024.

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If his story is true, Gracioso helps bring together the various aspects of the kickbacks and systematic looting of public funds involving public works officials, private contractors and lawmakers.

Among those mentioned in Gracioso’s affidavit are Co, former Department of Public Works and Highways undersecretaries Roberto Bernardo and Catalina Cabral, former DPWH district engineer Henry Alcantara, contractors Curlee and Sarah Discaya and Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo, whose wife Stella drew flak for her penchant for Hermes and Dior bags on a congresswoman’s salary.

Gracioso’s allegations give Stella’s critics, including from her former fellow professors in her alma mater the University of the Philippines School of Economics, a hint of where the pricey bags might have come from.

Also meriting special mention in Gracioso’s story is Velasco’s father Presbitero, who became Marinduque governor following his retirement from the Supreme Court. A plane was also allegedly borrowed from former congressman Mikee Romero.

Although Gracioso’s story has a stale note, the possibility that it’s true shows us the bankruptcy of our political and electoral systems, and provides a glimpse into the reason why people are prepared to commit murder to eliminate political rivals even at the barangay level.

Gracioso claims he delivered to Duterte the cash amounting to P10 million, P20 million, P50 million and P100 million. The money was supposedly transported in vans, at least one of which was bulletproof.

As narrated by Gracioso, the players moved around the country on private planes. He said the amounts he delivered rose during the election campaign of Duterte’s Hugpong ng Pagbabago, and after Velasco replaced Alan Peter Cayetano as House speaker in October 2020.

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If the amounts mentioned are true, it’s little wonder that the speaker’s post is so coveted, with Alan Peter ordering the House plenary hall padlocked, electricity turned off and WiFi disabled to stop a livestream in his ultimately futile attempt to keep the post.

The battle for the speakership also caused the breakdown of the UniTeam (and the falling out between Bongbong Marcos and his non-sister Imee), after BBM backed his cousin Martin instead of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as speaker.

Even at the height of the COVID lockdowns, the cash deliveries continued, Gracioso claimed. He said there came a time that there was so much cash needing storage Velasco had to buy several houses in Valle Verde to serve as “cash houses.”

You wonder why the movement of such enormous amounts of cash involving people who are not known for that kind of wealth were never flagged by the banking system.

The massive cash withdrawals by a government agency like the DPWH from state-run Land Bank of the Philippines are questionable enough. But do public officials also get the same free pass on their banking transactions? Or was a currency exchange operator also employed to fill the cash houses?

VP Sara denied knowing Gracioso. She will probably say the photos he presented showing the two of them together with Velasco are just among those photo ops she routinely has with a lot of people nationwide.

Velasco’s camp has maintained his innocence and stressed that he has never been tainted with corruption.

The NBI, which has taken protective custody of Gracioso while vetting his affidavit, said Velasco left the country for Japan on Aug. 30 following an NBI raid on Aug. 24 for guns on a house that turned out to be owned by the former speaker. Velasco’s wife reportedly took a flight to Japan the next day.

Such departures have also become common amid the corruption scandals in our country.

We’re guessing that the alleged cash houses have been decommissioned. Or maybe new ones are being set up by the Velascos in the favorite refuge of wanted Philippine officials, Paris.