MORE than 400 individuals listed as beneficiaries of confidential funds disbursed by the Department of Education (DepEd) then headed by Vice President Sara Duterte have no birth records, according to a report by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Manila 3rd District Rep. Joel Chua, chair of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, announced during a committee hearing on Monday that 405 out of 667 names submitted for verification had no birth records.
“Tayo po ay sumulat upang isumite ang 677 pang pangalan na nakalagay sa acknowledgment receipts (ARs) ng DepEd kung saan tayo po ay binigyan ng tugon ng [PSA], dated December 8, 2024,” Chua said.
“At dito, kanila pong sinasabi na out of 677 individuals, 405 ay walang birth certificate o walang record of birth o pwede nating sabihin na non-existent,” he added.
According to the panel, the PSA’s report, signed by National Statistician and Civil Registrar General Claire Dennis Mapa, also revealed that 445 individuals lacked marriage certificates, while 508 had no death certificates.
This indicates that other individuals subject to verification have one or more matching records in the civil registry.
The PSA’s findings were in response to a request by Chua’s panel, also referred to as the House Blue Ribbon Committee, which is investigating the disbursement of P612.5 million in confidential funds—P500 million from the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and P112.5 million from DepEd—reportedly spent between late 2022 and 2023.
The verification was prompted by the discovery that “Mary Grace Piattos,” a name appearing on ARs used to justify the fund disbursements, does not exist in the PSA database.
This raised suspicions about the authenticity of the 677 other names listed in the ARs, leading the committee to request their verification.
According to lawmakers, the PSA’s findings point to a potential scheme to alleged misuse of public funds.
The name “Mary Grace Piattos” garnered public attention due to its similarity to a popular snack brand, fueling suspicions about its authenticity.
Another name, “Kokoy Villamin,” appeared in multiple receipts with inconsistent signatures, raising further concerns of forgery.
The committee had earlier emphasized the importance of verifying the authenticity of all listed confidential fund recipients to ensure public funds were not funneled into fraudulent schemes.
However, initial findings revealed that the ARs appeared to have been fabricated, which lawmakers described as part of a systematic misuse of public funds.
