Palace to VP: Explain ‘suspicious’ confidential fund recipients

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte should shed light on the alleged beneficiaries of her confidential funds, Malacañang said yesterday, following the release of a new list of what has been described as “suspicious” recipients of the allocations.

At a press briefing yesterday, Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro urged Duterte to address the issue, as reports have surfaced regarding fake receipts allegedly issued by her office.

“We believe that VP Sara has the obligation to tell something about this, to tell something about these discoveries,” Castro said. “She is saying we should have transparency. It would be better if she were the first one to explain this.”

House deputy majority leader and La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega V revealed on Sunday a new set of what he labeled as “suspicious” names of persons who allegedly benefitted from the vice president’s use of P612.5 million confidential funds.

He said the list includes individuals named “Amoy Liu,” “Fernan Amuy,” and “Joug De Asim,” whom he collectively referred to as “Team Amoy Asim.”

According to Ortega, the entries were allegedly used to justify millions of pesos in confidential fund allocations within the Department of Education (DepEd), an agency led by Duterte from June 2022 to June 2024.

The list of names, which was submitted by the Office of the Vice President and DepEd to the Commission on Audit, reportedly does not match any records in the Philippine Statistics Authority’s database, such as birth, marriage or death certificates.

In earlier statements, Ortega also highlighted other alleged recipients of the confidential funds, including “Mary Grace Piattos,” “Renan Piatos,” “Pia Piatos-Lim,” “Xiaome Ocho,” “Jay Kamote,” “Miggy Mango” and five people listed as “Dodong.”

Duterte is currently facing an impeachment threat stemming from the misuse of confidential funds, among other accusations.

In February, the House of Representatives impeached Duterte, and the case is awaiting trial in the Senate. Duterte has denied the allegations and has petitioned the Supreme Court to annul her impeachment and block the trial.

As of yesterday, the Vice President has not yet issued a statement regarding the new set of “suspicious” names in the list of her confidential fund beneficiaries as revealed by Ortega.