IMPEACHED Vice President Sara Duterte is facing mounting pressure from legislators and the public to come clean about who truly benefited from the P612.5 million in confidential funds allocated to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) when she was its secretary.
With questionable names listed as beneficiaries of the controversial funds continuing to surface—some resembling snack brands and tech companies—House Committee on Good Government Chairman Joel Chua of Manila and House Deputy Majority Leader Paolo Ortega V of La Union on Monday warned that the Vice President’s silence on the issue only strengthens the impeachment case against her before the Senate.
Chua and Ortega demanded that the country’s second-highest official provide a full and verifiable list of beneficiaries, arguing that the lack of transparency and the presence of suspicious names suggest a deliberate effort to allegedly cover up fraudulent transactions.
“The Filipino people deserve to know where their money went. Transparency is not optional—it is a fundamental obligation of public service,” Chua, a lawyer, said.
For his part, Ortega stated, “If there is no clear list of beneficiaries, it only strengthens the case for impeachment. We cannot allow public funds to be disbursed without proper accountability.”
Recent findings have exposed additional questionable names among the supposed fund recipients, resembling well-known brands and products.
These include “Pia Piatos-Lim” and “Renan Piatos,” whose middle and last names contain a single “T,” differing from Mary Grace Piattos, whose surname matches exactly with the snack brand’s spelling.
Another name, “Xiaome Ocho,” which closely resembles a popular smartphone brand and model, was also identified among the recipients.
Just like Mary Grace Piattos, the Piatoses and Xiaome, these names do not appear in any birth, marriage, or death records from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), raising further concerns about the authenticity of the listed beneficiaries.
“These names don’t match any records in the PSA’s database. Were these real people, or were they fabricated to justify fund disbursements?” Chua questioned.
Chua added: “If these names are fabrications, then where did the money go? Who pocketed it?”
Ortega added that Duterte’s failure to account for the funds is a direct insult to taxpayers and provides yet another reason for the impeachment proceedings to push through immediately.
“The public will not tolerate corruption at this scale. If there are no real beneficiaries, then this was a massive, organized plunder of public funds,” Ortega said
