AN official of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) told the House Committee on Justice on Tuesday that hundreds of names listed in acknowledgment receipts tied to the confidential funds issue in the impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Z. Duterte yielded negative results in the agency’s civil registry records, putting renewed focus on the authenticity of the documents used to support the liquidation of public money.
The issue is central to the House panel’s determination of probable cause hearing on the surviving impeachment complaints against Duterte.
Appearing before the committee, Engr. Marizza V. Grande, Assistant National Statistician representing National Statistician Dennis S. Mapa, confirmed that the PSA had brought and submitted the certifications dated December 8, 2024 and December 11, 2024.
Grande identified herself as part of the Civil Registration Service and said she was “in charge in the verification of civil registry documents and the processing and archiving as well as generation of vital statistics.”
In response to clarificatory questions from Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre, Grande confirmed the figures in the first certification dated December 8, 2024.
Out of 677 names submitted for verification, 405 had no record of birth or certificate of live birth, 507 had no record of death or certificate of death, 443 had no record of marriage or certificate of marriage, and 398 unique persons had no record of birth, marriage, and death in PSA records.
Grande told the committee, “That is correct, Madam Chair. We are confirming based on the certification dated December 8.”
Grande also confirmed the figures in the second certification dated December 11, 2024. Out of 1,922 names submitted, 1,322 had no record of birth or certificate of live birth, 1,593 had no record of death or certificate of death, 1,456 had no record of marriage or certificate of marriage, and 1,287 unique persons had no record of birth, marriage, or death according to PSA records.
She said, “That is correct, Your Honor. Based on the date of December 11, the PSA initiated, those data are the result of our verification of the birth, marriage, and death.”
Acidre then asked Grande whether she was confirming under oath that the certifications were correct, sufficient, and consistent with official PSA records, Grande replied, “Yes, Your Honor.”
“This is based on the list of names submitted by the committee,” Grande said.
The hearing then turned to specific names that had already surfaced in the confidential funds issue.
Acidre asked whether, under the Saballa complaint, there were no corresponding records of birth, marriage, or death in the PSA database for the names Mary Grace Piattos, Milky Secuya, Kokoy Villamin, and Irene Tan.
Grande said the names mentioned had no records of birth, marriage, or death except for Irene Tan.
She explained why Irene Tan was treated differently, noting that it is a common name and that there was no other basis for verification.
Based on the PSA’s search, she said there were matching records under that name, including live birth, marriage, and death entries, because the name is common.
She then made clear that the other names named in the hearing yielded negative results.
