A House leader on Monday likened the fabrication of thousands of acknowledgment receipts (ARs) to justify Vice President Sara Duterte’s confidential funds to the production of fake documents on Recto Avenue in Manila, a notorious hotspot for counterfeit paperwork.
“Dinoktor nila ang kanilang mga [ARs]. Sa madaling salita, parang ito ‘yung mga nangyayari noon sa Recto—dino-doktor ang mga dokumento,” House Assistant Majority Leader and Zambales 1st District Rep. Jay Khonghun said in a press conference at the House of Representatives.
The comparison came after the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) found that over 2,600 names listed in acknowledgment receipts (ARs) for the P612.5 million confidential funds used by the Duterte-led Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd) lacked civil registry records, strongly indicating they were fictitious.
Khonghun, who also chairs the House Special Committee on Bases Conversion, said the evidence of fabricated receipts points to systematic fraud.
“Makikita na merong systematic fraud na ginagawa nila sa paggamit ng confidential funds,” he pointed out.
He added that falsifying government documents to liquidate public funds is a grave offense that demands accountability.
“Kailangan itong maimbestigahan. Kailangan itong mai-forward din sa
ating mga ahensiya ng pamahalaan para kung sino ‘yung kailangang managot, eh dapat managot kasi hindi po pwede na pepekiin mo ‘yung dokumento ng ating gobyerno para mag-liquidate,” he explained.
In the same press conference, Deputy Majority Leader and La Union 1st District Rep. Francisco Paolo Ortega V pointed out that the PSA findings confirmed long-standing suspicions of fabricated names and receipts.
“Kino-confirm lang po ‘yung mga findings at saka karamihan po ng mga tanong sa aming hearings na ‘yung mga tao na ‘yun ay hindi po totoo at hindi nag-e-exist,” Ortega said.
Ortega cited “Mary Grace Piattos,” a now-infamous fictitious name uncovered in the investigation of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, as a symbol of the broader scheme.
“Na-magnify lang po ito doon sa kasikatan ni Mary Grace Piattos, pero mayroon pa po pala siyang 1,000 tropa na kasama,” he said.
He added: “Parang hindi naman na po kami nagulat doon. Papunta na nga po doon at alam po natin na hindi po totoo itong mga taong ito at nagamit lang ‘yung mga pangalan na ito para makapaglabas po ng kaukulan na confidential funds.”
Assistant Majority Leader and Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre described the fraud as a deliberate scheme to siphon off public funds, as he highlighted the sheer scale of the fabrication.
“Talagang may motive…Madaling magpalsipika ng isa, lima, sampu, isang daan. Pero kung 1,000 pangalan ang ginawang peke, malaking problema po ‘yan,” said Acidre, who also chairs the House Committee on Overseas Workers Affairs.
Acidre also underscored the importance of legislative reforms to prevent the misuse of confidential funds.
Based on the PSA findings, 1,322 out of 1,992 names appearing on the OVP’s P500 million confidential fund receipts had no birth records, while 1,456 lacked marriage certificates, and 1,593 had no death records in the national civil registry.
Similarly, the DepEd’s P112.5 million confidential fund receipts showed 405 out of 667 names lacked birth records, 445 had no marriage certificates and 508 had no death records.
One name in the DepEd receipts, “Mary Grace Piattos,” became a symbol of public skepticism after the PSA confirmed that no such individual exists in its civil registry database.
The name, widely seen as a mashup of a popular restaurant chain and snack brand, has come to epitomize the alleged irregularities in the disbursement of confidential funds.
Another name, “Kokoy Villamin,” appeared in both the OVP and DepEd receipts but bore inconsistent signatures.
Like Piattos, the PSA verified that Villamin has no records in the civil registry, further deepening suspicions of fabricated recipients and systemic fraud.
