THE prosecution is not yet asking the Senate Impeachment Court to declare “Mary Grace Piattos” and other names on confidential-fund acknowledgment receipts fictitious.
The immediate question is whether the Office of the Vice President can identify the actual recipients if the names used were merely aliases.
House prosecutor Joel Chua of Manila and trial spokesperson Zia Alonto Adiong of Lanao
del Sur made the distinction Monday after Commission on Audit auditor Roderick Wamil identified selected receipts submitted to support the liquidation of the OVP’s ₱125-million confidential fund for the fourth quarter of 2022.
“Hindi pa tayo—wala pa tayo sa puntong iyon…Ito ang ipinakikita pa lang muna: ’yung findings ng COA,” Chua said in a press conference.
Wamil testified that he conducted a compliance audit based on documents submitted by the OVP. He did not investigate whether the named recipients existed because identity verification was outside the scope of that audit.
Chua said the receipts were presented to explain why COA issued an Audit Observation Memorandum and, after evaluating the OVP’s additional submissions, a Notice of Suspension. The testimony had not yet reached the Notice of Disallowance or a final determination that any name was fabricated.
The audit findings cited incomplete or inadequate documentation for reported rewards, medicines, goods and supplies. Some purchases were supported only by acknowledgment receipts instead of sales invoices or official receipts, while reported rewards lacked documents connecting them to successful confidential activities.
Alonto Adiong said strict compliance was necessary because the transactions involved public money and activities shielded from general disclosure.
“Ang sinabi ni Atty. Wamil is strict compliance, kasi pera ng taongbayan itong pinaggagamitan dito sa confidential activities,” Alonto Adiong said.
One receipt under the name Mary Grace Piattos recorded ₱70,000 as payment of rewards involving medicines. Wamil said the document alone did not show whether medicine was the reward and that further supporting records were required.
“Hindi natin alam kung masakitin ba itong si Mary Grace Piattos. Hindi natin alam, baka may plano si Mary Grace Piattos na magtayo ng botika—₱70,000 worth of medicine,” Alonto Adiong said, illustrating why an acknowledgment receipt alone did not explain the expenditure.
The names had already been questioned during earlier House proceedings. The official committee report states that Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) certifications found no birth records for 1,322 of 1,992 names appearing in OVP acknowledgment receipts. Those findings were not part of Wamil’s identity audit and must still be established through the appropriate evidence before the Impeachment Court.
Chua said the absence of civil-registry records did not, by itself, foreclose the possibility that aliases were used to protect confidential informants. But the use of an alias, the prosecutors argued, should not prevent COA’s Intelligence and Confidential Funds Audit Office from verifying the person behind it.
Joint Circular No. 2015-01 provides a confidential channel for submitting complete supporting documents to COA. The prosecutors argued that this permits legitimate identities to be protected from public disclosure without concealing them from authorized auditors.
“Mayroong mga pseudonym na ginamit, pero ’yung counterpart na pangalan o true identity, dapat nakalagay sa isang sealed envelope. At sa likod ng sealed envelope, may nakalagay na ‘confidential,’” Chua said.
For the prosecution, the issue remains verification: who received the public funds represented by the acknowledgment receipts?
“Hindi pa natin masasabi. Hindi natin masasabi; ginamit silang pseudonym. Pero ang susunod na tanong diyan: sino ’yung totoong tao?” Chua said.
metrosundaily
