PSA Flags Dead, Child Payees in VP Sara Duterte's Confidential Fund Transfers

A PHILIPPINE Statistics Authority (PSA) witness told the Senate impeachment court that civil registry records showed one listed recipient of Vice-President (VP) Sara Duterte-Carpio’s confidential funds was a two-month-old child who died in 1965, while other listed payees were also minors. Assistant National Statistician Marizza B. Grande confirmed the civil registry record during Monday’s impeachment hearing as the House of Representatives prosecution panel presented evidence for Article I, which alleges misuse of P612.5 million in confidential funds by Ms. Duterte. House private prosecutor Mae S. Divinagracia said Marlin Sunga had been dead for 61 years by 2023 and was only two months old when she died. The prosecution presented three other acknowledgment receipts bearing the names of Miko Alquizar, born in June 2022; Beatrice Cuenca, born in January 2022; and Mikay de los Reyes, born in January 2020. The receipts covered confidential fund disbursements in 2023. Ms. Divinagracia asked Ms. Grande what confidential information the minors could have provided the Office of the Vice-President. Defense lawyer Lindon Miguel C. Bacquel objected, saying the question was speculative. Senate impeachment court Presiding Officer Francis Joseph G. Escudero sustained the objection. Ms. Grande confirmed a prosecution summary showing that 2,669 confidential fund payees had been verified through PSA records. Of these, 1,685 had no birth, marriage or death records, 37 were already dead and 25 were children as of 2023. The PSA earlier told a House hearing that it found no civil registry record for “Mary Grace Piattos,” whom prosecutors had initially listed as a witness. Lanao del Sur Rep. Ziaur-Rahman A. Adiong, spokesperson for the House prosecution panel, said prosecutors would no longer summon Ms. Piattos. “What’s important is the PSA said that Mary Grace Piattos does not exist,” he told reporters. “It’s difficult to find a person who does not exist, it’s difficult to summon a person who has been dead for 61 years.” Mr. Bacquel questioned Ms. Grande about the possibility that births could have been registered late, resulting in missing records in the PSA civil registry system. “Based on the data, there are births not registered,” she said, adding that deaths and marriages could also go unrecorded. Ms. Grande also confirmed, upon questioning by Mr. Escudero, that the PSA maintains a repository of aliases approved by courts. “For aliases that have been judicially approved, or those authorized by the court, we store those in our civil registry and in fact we store those that have been registered and annotated in their subject birth certificates,” she said. Senator-Judge Erwin T. Tulfo said former commander of the Vice-Presidential Security and Protection Group Colonel Raymund Dante Lachica should testify because he distributed the confidential funds to the supposed payees. Mr. Tulfo acknowledged that the names on the acknowledgment receipts could be aliases but noted that the signatures and handwriting of the informants appeared similar. Ms. Divinagracia said the defense could have disclosed in its answer that aliases were used on the receipts. Mr. Bacquel said the Commission on Audit (CoA) had not questioned the names appearing on the receipts or the use of aliases. “The findings of the CoA never raised any problem in relation to the names in the acknowledgement receipts, much less with the use of aliases,” he said. The defense later acknowledged that the names on the receipts were aliases after Senator-Judge Ana Theresia N. Hontiveros-Baraquel raised the issue. “Given that it has become a material matter, we have to couch this answer that this is classified information but these are in fact aliases your honor for the consideration of this court,” Mr. Bacquel said. He added that the defense would address the matter when it presents its evidence. — K.P.B. Gabriel