(Feature)
AS the Senate braces for Vice President Sara Duterte’s historic impeachment trial next week, fresh revelations from the House of Representatives added fuel to the fire.
Deputy Majority Leader Paolo Ortega V of La Union on Thursday exposed a string of bogus and suspicious names allegedly listed as beneficiaries of the Office of the Vice President’s (OVP) confidential funds — including surnames bizarrely similar to sitting senators, a congressman and even a famous bakeshop brand.
“These irregularities are too glaring to ignore — these names from supposed ‘Budol Gang’ call for a deeper look,” Ortega said as lawmakers zero in on what could be one of the alleged biggest fund misuse scandals in recent memory.
Ortega said he found out individuals with surnames of current senators: “Beth Revilla,” “Janice Marie Revilla,” “Diane Maple Lapid,” “John A. Lapid Jr.,” “Clarisse Hontiveros,” “Kristine Applegate Estrada,” and “Denise Tanya Escudero” as alleged beneficiaries of confidential funds.
Beyond the now-notorious “Mary Grace Piattos,” Ortega highlighted new entries such as “Cannor Adrian Contis,” along with individuals bearing the surname “Solon”: Kris Solon and Paul M. Solon, a surname similar to Sarangani Rep. Steve Chiongbian Solon.
“Hindi lang pala si Mary Grace Piattos ang may kapangalan na café-restaurant, pati pala Contis. Kapag ba may confidential funds ang opisina mo, may sweet tooth ka din?” quipped Ortega.
“Tapos may ‘Solon’ pa na ka-apelyido ng ating kasamahan na si congressman Steve Solon,” Ortega added.
“Hanggang Senado po, hindi na pinalampas nitong Budol Gang. Pambihira dinadamay pati mga apelyido ng ating esteemed senators. Ganyan po kagarapal ang listahan ng supposed beneficiaries ng OVP confidential funds,” Ortega emphasized.
“Hindi nakakatawa ang paulit-ulit na paggamit ng mga pekeng pangalan na parang hinugot mula sa sine at showbiz,” Ortega said.
Ortega added that the frequency and creativity of the names no longer seem coincidental and could point to a systemic attempt to allegedly obscure confidential fund transactions.
“Public funds ang pinag-uusapan. Kung wala silang maipakitang ebidensya na tunay ang mga taong ito, ito mismo ang magiging matibay na ebidensya laban sa kanya sa impeachment trial,” Ortega stressed.
Similar to previously flagged entries, Ortega said the newly surfaced names did not appear in official birth, marriage, or death records from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Earlier, Ortega bared bogus names that allegedly benefitted from confidential funds that include Honeylet Camille Sy, Feonna Biong, Feonna Villegas and Joel Linangan from the OVP and Fiona Ranitez, Erwin Q. Ewan, Ellen Magellan and Gary Tanada form the Department of Education (DepEd).
Other fake names were from “Team Grocery,” such as Beverly Claire Pampano, Mico Harina, Ralph Josh Bacon, Patty Ting and Sala Casim, Ortega said.
Ortega also said another cluster of recipients dubbed “Team Amoy Asim” includes Amoy Liu, Fernan Amuy and Joug De Asim.
Ortega also flagged names like Mary Grace Piattos, which combines a popular bakery and snack food, and Xiaome Ocho, which closely resembles a well-known smartphone brand.
Based on acknowledgment receipts submitted by the OVP to the Commission on Audit (COA) as proof of confidential fund utilization, the PSA found that among 1,992 listed recipients, 1,322 had no birth records, 1,456 had no marriage records, and 1,593 had no death records.
Manila Rep. Joel Chua, chair of the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability, also revealed earlier that 405 out of the 677 names listed as beneficiaries of DepEd’s confidential funds under Duterte have no birth records, a clear indication that the names were allegedly fabricated.
All newly flagged names were listed as alleged recipients of the OVP’s ₱500 million confidential funds disbursed in 2023.
While confidential funds are used for sensitive operations, Ortega emphasized that existing rules — particularly Joint Circular 2015-01 issued by COA and the Department of Budget and Management — require agencies to maintain sealed and verifiable documentation linking aliases to real identities.
“Kung paulit-ulit na gumamit ang OVP ng fictitious names, meron silang obligasyong patunayan na may tunay na tao sa likod ng bawat pangalan,” Ortega said. “At kung wala, mismong listahan ang magiging ebidensya ng katiwalian sa Senado.”
He added that the relevant documents had been turned over to the COA and presented before the House Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability as part of the impeachment evidence against VP Duterte.
Former COA Commissioner Heidi Mendoza has also reiterated in past interviews that the use of aliases in government transactions does not exempt agencies from transparency requirements.
“Aliases must always be traceable,” Mendoza said. “If not, they raise red flags for fraud.”
The Senate is scheduled to convene as an impeachment court beginning June 2. While VP Duterte’s camp has yet to address the questionable entries in the list, Ortega said the growing inconsistencies may be difficult to ignore during the trial.
“Kung hindi maipaliwanag kung sino talaga ang tumanggap ng pondo, the burden falls squarely on the Vice President,” he said.
For Ortega, the matter has gone beyond clerical errors and now suggests an alleged deliberate attempt to use fiction as a shield from accountability.
“Kapag sunud-sunod ang kahina-hinalang pangalan — mula chichirya hanggang senador — hindi na ito kalokohan lang. Mukhang may nagplano talaga para itago kung saan napunta ang pera ng taumbayan,” Ortega concluded.
