Sara Duterte impeachment trial: PSA official to testify on 'fictitious individuals' in confidential fund probe

The impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte is set to continue on Monday with the House prosecution panel expected to present a new witness to answer questions regarding "fictitious individuals" to whom confidential funds were allegedly disbursed. Once the trial resumes at 10 a.m., Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) Assistant National Statistician Marizza Grande is expected to be called to the witness stand. Prosecutor Terry Ridon of Bicol Saro party-list earlier explained that PSA officials are included as witnesses because a study conducted by the PSA showed that names on acknowledgment receipts, such as the infamous Mary Grace Piattos, "were not born, did not marry, and did not die in the Philippines, because they have no PSA records." "We will be able to show that these are fake, fictitious individuals. This means that irregularities and the misuse of public funds indeed took place," Ridon said. Grande’s testimony will still be in relation to Article 1 of the impeachment case, which accuses the Vice President of committing impeachable offenses due to systematic misappropriation and irregular liquidation of confidential funds amounting to P500 million released to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and P112.5 million released to the Department of Education (DepEd). Duterte’s defense team previously said they were ready to explain the use of aliases for confidential funds. "Specifically the ‘Mary Grace Piattos,’ we are ready to respond to that and explain why things like that exist," Defense spokesperson Michael Poa said in February. "She will address those issues in the appropriate time, including the circumstances of why there is a ‘Mary Grace Piattos’ and things like that, and that has been something we have been preparing for since last year." Aside from Mary Grace Piattos, other unusual names identified as confidential fund recipients include Milky Secuya, Feonna Villegas, Miggy Mango, Xiaomi Ocho, and Jay Kamote, among others. Apart from the PSA official, the Senate impeachment court also ordered Commission on Audit (COA) employee Bresilio Sabaldan, DepEd Assistant Secretary Sunshine Fajarda, and Police Major Jovelyn Magay to testify in the impeachment trial from September 7 to 9. — BAP, GMA News