Sara Duterte on 'Mary Grace Piattos': No comment

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte declined to confirm the existence of "Mary Grace Piattos" at a press conference on Wednesday, November 20, saying she has not seen the documents where Piattos appears as one of the recipients of her office's confidential funds.

"I have no comment on that because I've not seen the acknowledgment receipt that they're referring to," Duterte said in mixed English and Filipino.

Unlike what witnesses have previously told the House good government panel, Duterte said the liquidation documents in question at the committee committee inquiry did not go through her. She said these were directly submitted to the OVP's Special Disbursement Officer, Gina Acosta, and the Inspection and Control of Fund Audit Unit of the Commission on Audit (COA). 

The vice president added that she was unaware of how the documents were processed and submitted to the House of Representatives.

The House good government panel had earlier identified over 1,200 dubious acknowledgment receipts that the OVP had submitted to state auditors to justify its P125-million confidential expenditure in 2022. Many of these bore unreadable names and/or were written in similar handwriting.

Piattos' name is one of several names that have cropped up in these questioned documents. 

Lawmakers have since offered a P1 million bounty for anyone who can help figure out the real identity of Piattos.

On Tuesday, House good government panel chair Rep. Joel Chua said they plan to coordinate with the Philippine Statistics Authority and consult handwriting experts to analyze the acknowledgment receipts. 

Witnesses, including current OVP staff, have repeatedly House lawmakers that it's only Duterte, Acosta and OVP chief-of-staff Zuleika Lopez that have direct knowledge of how the secret funds are spent.

On Wednesday, Lopez said she could not answer questions about the OVP's confidential expenses, saying she was also kept in the dark about how these funds were disbursed and liquidated. — Cristina Chi