Bank exec’s testimony supports Madriaga’s story on VP Duterte’s confi funds

MANILA, Philippines – When a former bank official took the witness stand in the trial of Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday, July 29, one detail that stood out in her story involves four bags. Former Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) manager Violeta Constantino said that on December 20, 2022, the two Office of the Vice President (OVP) officials who went to their bank to encash a P125-million check also dated the same day put the wads of cash inside four bags. “In my recollection, it’s a long, big bag, like a gym bag,” she said, describing what each one looked like. According to Duterte’s self-confessed bagman Ramil Madriaga, it was also on December 20, 2022, that he supposedly received wads of cash from officer Gina Acosta and Duterte’s security officer Raymund Lachica, to be subsequently delivered to various individuals in the next 24 hours. Madriaga believes the P125 million came from Duterte’s confidential funds in 2022. Interestingly, Madriaga had said the cash was also inside four bags: three large dark ones, and one lighter-colored bag. Prosecution spokesperson and adviser Ace Barbers called this a “striking coincidence,” and believes Madriaga and Constantino are referring to the same bags. “I believe…it’s one and the same,” Barbers said. The timestamp in the check indicated it was encashed at exactly 3:10 pm. In his affidavit, Madriaga said that Acosta and Lachica arrived in the Department of Education (DepEd) compound — where the turnover of bags supposedly took place — “at around 3 or 4 pm.” LBP Shaw Boulevard branch is only three to four kilometers away from the central office of DepEd, which was led by Duterte from June 2022 to July 2024. The prosecution team, obviously, won’t divulge its legal strategy, but the line of questioning during its direct examination of its witness appeared to provide a foundation for the testimony of its star witness Madriaga and give credence to his earlier claims. “They probably don’t know each other — the two bank managers and Madriaga — but their accounts were remarkably consistent. They gave the same description of the person who received the money, the number of bags the cash was placed in, and the date the check was released. I don’t think this is a made-up story,” prosecution spokesperson Zia Adiong said. Aside from Constantino, another bank official, Nenita Camposano of the LBP DepEd branch, testified about the Sara Duterte-led DepEd’s encashments of three checks totaling P112.5 million from February to July 2023. The prosecution has listed Madriaga as a potential witness in Duterte’s trial, but it won’t confirm whether or not he will actually be called to testify against the Vice President. – Rappler.com